With the Pentagon potentially seeking a $200 billion supplemental package to fund the ongoing war with Iran, President Donald Trump defended that figure in part by saying U.S. ammunition “was taken down by giving so much to Ukraine.” He then exaggerated the amount of aid to Ukraine and falsely said that former President Joe Biden “didn’t rebuild anything” in the defense stockpile.Trump has a point that the military assistance provided to Ukraine reduced the U.S. reserve of weapons. But that aid has largely not affected military operations in Iran, defense experts told us.
Furthermore, Biden signed multiple spending bills passed by Congress that included funding to replace the older weapons that the U.S. gave to Ukraine with new items. Experts also told us that Biden’s administration invested in increasing munitions production for the military.“Of course, the Biden administration built a lot in terms of military equipment,” Mark F. Cancian, senior adviser for the defense and security department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told us in an email. “Whether it did enough is another question.”
