Trump meets defense industry leaders, says companies agreed to quadruple advanced weapons production

ISTANBUL

US President Donald Trump said Friday that major American defense manufacturers have agreed to significantly increase weapons production following a meeting with industry executives at the White House.

In a statement posted on his Truth Social platform, Trump said the discussion focused on production schedules and expanding output across the US defense industry.

“We just concluded a very good meeting with the largest U.S. Defense Manufacturing Companies where we discussed Production and Production Schedules,” Trump said. “They have agreed to quadruple production of the ‘Exquisite Class’ weaponry in that we want to reach, as rapidly as possible, the highest levels of quantity.”

In recent days, some US media reports have highlighted potential pressure on US stockpiles of precision-guided munitions and missile defense interceptors following strikes on Iran.

Trump said efforts to expand production had begun three months before the meeting, and manufacturing facilities and production lines for many of the weapons are already underway.

The president also said the US has a “virtually unlimited supply” of medium and upper-medium grade munitions, which he said have been used in operations in Iran and more recently in Venezuela.

The meeting included chief executives from major defense contractors, including BAE Systems, Boeing, Honeywell Aerospace, L3Harris Missile Solutions, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon, according to Trump.

He added that another meeting with the defense companies has been scheduled in two months and several US states are competing to host new production plants linked to the expanded manufacturing effort.

Separately, Lockheed Martin wrote on US social media company X that it agreed to “quadruple critical munitions production,” and the effort had already begun months earlier in coordination with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg.

Regional tensions have escalated since the US and Israel launched a large-scale attack Saturday against Iran, killing more than 1,000 people, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, over 150 schoolgirls and senior military officials.

Iran has retaliated with sweeping barrages that have targeted US bases, diplomatic facilities and military personnel across the region, as well as multiple Israeli cities.

The attacks have continued to escalate.