{"id":139279,"date":"2026-07-15T16:31:54","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T22:31:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/trump-addresses-a-defense-technology-gathering-as-the-iran-war-has-reduced-us-weapon-stocks\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T16:34:29","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T22:34:29","slug":"trump-addresses-a-defense-technology-gathering-as-the-iran-war-has-reduced-us-weapon-stocks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/trump-addresses-a-defense-technology-gathering-as-the-iran-war-has-reduced-us-weapon-stocks\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump drifts into campaign topics while addressing defense technology gathering"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"President
President Donald Trump speaks at the United States Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., during the Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo\/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

CARLISLE, Pa. (AP) \u2014 President Donald Trump<\/a> addressed a defense summit at the U.S. Army War College on Wednesday but spent little time talking about battlefield issues \u2014 even as the war in Iran<\/a> has reduced the U.S. supply<\/a> of critical missile and interceptor systems.<\/p>\n

Seated at a roundtable with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Republican Pennsylvania Sen. David McCormick<\/a>, Trump said the gathering would generate around $10 billion in pledged investments from domestic defense and technology companies, without providing details.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe talent and innovation in this room will keep America safe for many years to come,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n

He spoke shortly after the U.S. military launched another round of missile strikes<\/a> that Trump had previously promised against Iran as a ceasefire to end that war remains in tatters. Trump made brief references to the war and a January military operation to oust<\/a> Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a>, saying, \u201cWe\u2019re really doing well with Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIran is unhappy right now,” he said.<\/p>\n

But his lengthy speech spent more time drifting into themes Trump repeats during his political rallies, boasting about \u2014 and sometimes exaggerating \u2014 his administration’s accomplishments. Trump also diverted into a broadside against the use of windmills in Britain, questioned having steam catapults on U.S. ships and pondered the Battle of Gettysburg.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat a war that was, when you read about it,\u201d the president said of the Civil War.<\/p>\n

Trump suggests he had stored up frustrations over catapults<\/strong><\/p>\n

Trump suggested that oil from Venezuela would eventually pay for what the U.S. spent toppling Maduro some 50 times over \u2014 though he also said private oil companies would profit more than the country. After a long aside about the use of magnets to improve catapults on vessels, Trump finally offered, \u201cI hope I’m not boring anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m getting it all out now,” he added. “All the anger I have when I hear about electric catapults that don’t work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later, Trump advised, \u201cI\u2019ll tell you how to make money: Do magnets.” At another point Trump declared, \u201cI watch more tractors than any human being on earth.\u201d<\/p>\n

The gathering in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, was organized by McCormick and also featured Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Army Secretary Dan Driscoll; CIA Director John Ratcliffe; and Mike Waltz, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.<\/p>\n

Summit attendees included JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, Blackstone President Jon Gray, Lockheed Martin CEO Jim Taiclet, General Dynamics CEO Phebe Novakovic, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, SpaceX director Antonio Gracias and artificial intelligence firm Palantir chief technology officer of analytics Shyam Sankar.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m in a world where I\u2019m shaking hands with celebrity business people, mostly,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n

Another presidential stop in Pennsylvania <\/strong><\/p>\n

Trump has come to the critical swing state seven times during his second term, including last month, when he went to a Mack Trucks facility<\/a> in Macungie.<\/p>\n

Trump carried Pennsylvania in 2016 and 2024, and McCormick is not up for reelection this cycle, but Republicans are increasingly concerned about the war and the persistently high cost of living<\/a> as well as the president’s low approval ratings<\/a> as they look to maintain control of Congress during November’s midterm elections<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As he frequently does, however, Trump complained Wednesday that affordability and the rising cost of living that have increasingly worried voters were issues the Democrats have fomented for political purposes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a fake word that they use, they caused the affordability problem,” he said, before referencing one of his friends, whom he didn\u2019t name, having bought a private plane just for the tax benefits.<\/p>\n

Trump spoke at a similar gathering organized by McCormick<\/a> last year in Pittsburgh that sought to make the city a hot spot for advancement in energy technology and robotics. Then, the senator announced $90 billion in pledged investments in those sectors across Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n

Before Trump’s arrival, multi-analytics threat detection leader ZeroEyes, which is based in Conshohocken, outside Philadelphia, announced a planned $10 million investment in artificial intelligence and machine learning research and development.<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh-based Gecko Robotics says it plans to open a new 10,000-square-foot (930-square-meter) manufacturing facility designed to boost integration of robotics into defense manufacturing processes and better expand the nation’s defense industrial base.<\/p>\n

Shortage of Tomahawks and Patriots may take years to make up <\/strong><\/p>\n

Unmentioned during Trump’s appearance was an analysis<\/a> released in May that found that U.S. military contractors will need at least three years to replenish stockpiles of Tomahawks<\/a>, which are used to strike targets deep inside enemy territory, as well as Patriot<\/a> and THAAD interceptors<\/a>, which defend against incoming missiles and drones.<\/p>\n

Stocks have dwindled as the U.S. has repeatedly fired strikes on Iran, adding to concerns<\/a> that American forces would have limited firepower in any potential future conflict with China<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Trump also recently pledged to give Ukraine a license<\/a> to produce Patriot air-defense systems<\/a>, which could be a major development in its war with Russia, though turning the idea into real weapons is also likely to take years<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Trump has sought to correct the shortfall by seeking a historic $1.5 trillion defense budget proposal<\/a> for 2027. But a package authorizing such spending levels is stalled in Congress, and, even if it eventually moves forward, loads of additional time will still be required to expand production capabilities to accommodate such weapons systems.<\/p>\n

Jake Loosararian, co-founder and CEO of Gecko Robotics, said U.S. defense companies have “got to supercharge supply chains\u201d to reduce how long it takes for new technology to be ready for widespread production.<\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Trump uniquely understands the importance of pragmatic impact today,\u201d Loosararian said. “He also understands big, beautiful things for tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"President
President Donald Trump speaks at the United States Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., during the Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo\/Matt Rourke)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Matt Rourke)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"President
President Donald Trump walks with Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as he arrives at the United States Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., for the Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo\/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"President
President Donald Trump greets Dina Powell McCormick, as he arrives at the United States Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., for the Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo\/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump speaks at the United States Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., during the Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo\/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)(AP Photo\/Julia Demaree Nikhinson) CARLISLE, Pa. (AP) \u2014 President Donald Trump addressed a defense summit at the U.S. Army War College on Wednesday but spent little time […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":139280,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5734],"tags":[],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-139279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-associated-press"],"acf":[],"author_name":"Website Administrator","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139279"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":139328,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139279\/revisions\/139328"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139279"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=139279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}