WASHINGTON, Aug. 7 -- A hastily convened Friday night meeting at the Pentagon, called by the deputy defense secretary hours after an angry phone call from President Donald Trump, has exposed the gap between the administration's public confidence in the Iran war effort and the private alarm among the officials prosecuting it. Trump's response was not to address the substance of what the meeting discussed but to threaten the people who disclosed it.

NBC News reported on Wednesday that Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg summoned senior military and defense acquisition officials to an unscheduled meeting after Trump called, angry about a weapons shortfall affecting American planning for expanded operations against Iran. Four people wi...