The Trump administration wants automakers to put the pedal to the metal to help rebuild America’s weapons stockpiles, according to a new report.
As wars in the Middle East and Ukraine have consumed missiles and other weapons, the Trump administration is turning to a tactic from World War II in order to resupply as fast as possible, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Top executives at General Motors and Ford have been approached, the outlet reported, citing sources it did not name. GE Aerospace and machinery producer Oshkosh have also been approached.
The War Department “is committed to rapidly expanding the defense industrial base by leveraging all available commercial solutions and technologies to ensure our warfighters maintain a decisive advantage,” a Pentagon official said.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has called for American manufacturing to be on a “wartime footing.”
Talks with manufacturers began before the war against Iran, with the goal of strengthening national security by increasing the military’s ability to quickly increase production of weapons and technology to meet emerging needs.
Defense officials sought input from companies that do not perform extensive defense work about barriers that need to be addressed by the government, such as the process for bidding and contracting.
Logan Jones, chief growth officer for Oshkosh’s transport segment, said the company began a dialogue with the military in November.
The company has explored where they could “bring that capacity in a way that matches our core capability,” he said.
Oshkosh builds tactical troop carriers, but most of its business is not linked to the military.
“We’ve been out looking at capabilities that we think fit their needs, just proactively,” Jones said. “We’ve heard it loud and clear that this is important.”
Concerns over the supply of weapons began in 2022 when the Biden administration began sending large amounts of materiel to Ukraine.
The Wall Street Journal noted that the Trump administration relied on GM and Ford to produce ventilators at the start of COVID.
Automakers during World War II stopped making cars to produce what the military needed.
As questions about the military’s store of weapons began to emerge last month, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the military “has everything it needs to execute any mission at any time and place of the President’s choosing and on any timeline,” according to The Washington Post.
He said President Donald Trump and Hegseth “have made restoring American military dominance their top priority from day one, and American dominance has been proved again and again following every major military operation under this administration.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
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