Trump Quietly Invokes Defense Production Act

President Trump has quietly ordered the Pentagon and defense contractors to ramp up weapons production. In a June 11 memo to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that was filed in the Federal Register on Tuesday, the president invoked the Cold War–era Defense Production Act. Three things to know:

• Key lines: "I hereby find that conditions exist which may pose a direct threat to the national defense or its preparedness programs," Trump wrote, per Reuters, flagging "limited production capacity, fragile supply chains, long-lead dependencies, and related production bottlenecks."
• What the Act enables: NBC News reports it hands Trump "a broad set of authorities to expand and expedite the supply of materials, including by ordering private companies to prioritize orders from the federal government. It also allows companies to collaborate in ways that could otherwise be seen as collusion or not competitive."

• Curtailed inventory: CBS News calls concerns about America's stockpiles "not new." It cites an April analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies that found that in its attacks against Iran, the US may have used up more than 50% of its Tomahawk missiles and three other key munitions.