President Donald Trump this week invoked a 1950s law authorizing the Secretary of War to pursue agreements with private firms to ramp up munitions production amid the Iran war.

The Defense Production Act of 1950 allows the president to require that private firms prioritize contracts critical to national defense and to incentivize the expansion of the defense industrial base.

In a one-page memo, Trump directed Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to pursue "voluntary agreements and plans of action" to address "systemic constraints in the munitions industrial base."

The order comes after months of fighting in Iran and the Middle East, as well as years of supplying Israel and Ukraine with military equipment. 

Though the war is in a state of nominal ceasefire and a formal agreement to end the conflict is expected to be signed Friday, Trump has warned that fighting could resume.

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent for Just the News. Follow him on X.