“We Gave It All Away” – Trump Makes Bold Claim On Why U.S. Soldiers Don’t Have Ammunition

According to a report by Mediate on Monday, August 26, 2024, former U.S. President Donald Trump made bold claims about the state of the country’s military readiness, stating that the U.S. is running low on ammunition.

The comments came during his address to the National Guard Association in Detroit.

As the Republican nominee for the 2024 presidential election, Trump touched on various topics, but his remarks on the military’s ammunition supplies caught significant attention.

Speaking to a room of National Guard members, Trump claimed, “We have no ammunition.” He then reenacted what he said was a conversation with someone from his previous administration.

According to Trump, a high-ranking official informed him that the military was facing a shortage of ammunition.

During the reenactment, Trump pretended to have a conversation with this unnamed person, which he described as follows:

“Sir,” the person allegedly began.

Trump then replied, “How are we doing militarily?”

The person responded, “We have a problem, Sir.”

Trump asked, “What is it?”

The person said, “We have no ammunition.”

Trump expressed frustration over the situation, calling it “lousy.” He criticized the idea of letting enemies know about any military weaknesses, saying, “You don’t wanna tell your enemy you have no amm– I don’t wanna tell President Xi of China that we don’t have ammunition.”

“I had ammunition,” he said of his time in office. “We had so much it was coming out of our gills, right? I had ammunition. I said, ‘Oh, what the hell do we do with all this ammunition?’ We had so much. And now we don’t have ammunition again. We gave it all away to different groups, but mostly into Ukraine. And we don’t have ammunition.”

Trump has made similar claims before. Back in 2019, while serving as president, he said that the military was facing a significant shortage of ammunition when he took office.

He shared a story in which one of his generals reportedly told him that the military didn’t have enough supplies.

“One of our generals came in to see me and he said, ‘Sir, we don’t have ammunition,” Trump recounted in 2019. He responded to the general at the time by saying, “That’s a terrible thing you just said.”

Trump’s remarks this time around seem to echo his earlier claims, but with an added layer of criticism toward the current administration.

He suggested that the ammunition supplies were adequate during his presidency but have since been depleted, largely due to the U.S. providing military aid to Ukraine.

The reference to Ukraine comes in the context of the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, which began in February 2022.

Since the invasion, the United States has provided significant military aid to Ukraine, including ammunition, weapons, and other supplies.

The aid is part of a broader effort by Western nations to support Ukraine’s defense against Russian aggression.

According to reports, the U.S. has sent billions of dollars’ worth of military aid to Ukraine since the conflict began. This assistance has included artillery, air defense systems, and ammunition.

Some of Trump’s supporters have expressed concern that the aid to Ukraine may be affecting the U.S. military’s readiness, a sentiment that Trump himself appeared to echo in his speech.

However, experts in the field of military readiness have pointed out that while the U.S. has indeed sent large amounts of ammunition and weapons to Ukraine, there is no evidence to suggest that this has resulted in a critical shortage for the U.S. military.

The Department of Defense has stated that it monitors and manages military stockpiles to ensure that the U.S. remains prepared for any potential threats.