Trump caught off guard by Pentagon's abrupt move to pause Ukraine
weapons deliveries, AP sources say
[July 09, 2025]
By AAMER MADHANI, SEUNG MIN KIM and TARA COPP
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's decision to send more
defensive weapons to Ukraine came after he privately expressed
frustration with Pentagon officials for announcing a pause in some
deliveries last week — a move that he felt wasn't properly coordinated
with the White House, according to three people familiar with the
matter.
The Pentagon, which announced last week that it would hold back some air
defense missiles, precision-guided artillery and other weapons pledged
to Ukraine because of what U.S. officials said were concerns that
American stockpiles were in short supply. Trump said Monday that the
U.S. will have to send more weapons to Ukraine, effectively reversing
the move.
Two of the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity about the
sensitive internal discussions, said there was some internal opposition
among Pentagon brass to the pause — coordinated by Pentagon policy chief
Elbridge Colby — before it was announced.
One of the people described Trump as being caught “flat footed” by the
announcement. The White House did not respond to queries about whether
Trump was surprised by the Pentagon pause.
Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson denied that Defense Secretary
Pete Hegseth had acted without consulting the president.
“It is the job of the Secretary of Defense to make military
recommendations to the commander-in-chief. Secretary Hegseth provided a
framework for the President to evaluate military aid shipments and
assess existing stockpiles. This effort was coordinated across
government. The Department will continue to give the President robust
options regarding military aid to Ukraine, consistent with his goal of
bringing this tragic war to an end and putting America first,” Wilson
said in a statement to The Associated Press.
The pause in critical weapons deliveries had come at a difficult moment
for Ukraine, which has faced increasing — and more complex — air
barrages from Russia during the more than three-year-old war. Trump
acknowledged that in announcing the reversal on Monday night, saying,
"They have to be able to defend themselves. They’re getting hit very
hard now."
Asked by a reporter Tuesday who approved the pause, Trump bristled at
the question while he was gathered with his Cabinet. “I don't know. Why
don't you tell me?"
Trump's change in tone on Putin
The president also laid into Russian President Vladimir Putin,
suggesting he was unnecessarily prolonging the war that Trump has said
he's determined to quickly conclude. Trump has struggled to find a
resolution, with talks between the sides stalled.
The Republican leader has sounded increasingly exasperated with Putin in
recent days. The two spoke by phone last week.
“We get a lot of bull---- thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the
truth," Trump said during Tuesday's Cabinet meeting. "He's very nice all
the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.”
He has threatened, but held off on, imposing new sanctions against
Russia’s oil industry to try to prod Putin into peace talks.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said last week that Trump has given him the
go-ahead to push forward with a bill he’s co-sponsoring that calls, in
part, for a 500% tariff on goods imported from countries that continue
to buy Russian oil. The move would have huge ramifications for China and
India, two economic behemoths that buy Russian oil.
Trump said Tuesday that he's “looking at it very strongly.”
[to top of second column]
|
President Donald Trump, left, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth,
right, during a cabinet meeting at the White House, Tuesday, July 8,
2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Pentagon says it's going to resume shipments to Ukraine
The weapons pause announced last week impacted shipments of Patriot
missiles, precision-guided GMLRS, Hellfire missiles and Howitzer
rounds and more, taking not only Ukrainian officials and other
allies by surprise but also U.S. lawmakers and other parts of the
Trump administration, including the State Department.
The Pentagon said late Monday that at Trump’s direction, it would
resume weapons shipments to Ukraine “to ensure the Ukrainians can
defend themselves while we work to secure a lasting peace and ensure
the killing stops.” Still, spokesman Sean Parnell added that its
review for Trump to evaluate military shipments worldwide continues
as part of “America First” defense priorities.
It’s also unclear which weaponry would now be sent, though Trump
said that the U.S. will primarily be assisting Ukraine with
defensive weapons.
Counting the weapons
On Tuesday, each of the services and the combatant commands — the
multiservice organizations that spearhead U.S. military operations
around the world — were still sending up information on their
stockpiles of specific munitions to Pentagon leadership, a U.S.
official said.
“They are literally still doing the math,” the official said.
The information was being presented on a stoplight chart — where
munitions were either in a red, yellow or green status, similar to
slides that had been created the week before, the official said.
That earlier study had concluded that some munitions were OK to keep
sending to Ukraine — but others were reaching concerning levels.
Getting a full visibility on the numbers of actual munitions on hand
takes time, the official said, because while Patriot missiles, for
example, initially belong to the Army, once they are requested and
sent to a combatant command, such as U.S. Central Command, the
service loses visibility on those numbers in inventory.
The vast majority of the munitions and weapons the U.S. has shipped
to Ukraine have been pulled from the Army, which has monitored
levels closely in recent years, particularly for high-demand items
like 155mm artillery shells and Patriot missiles for air defenses.
It’s been harder for the Army to ramp up production on those items
than had been planned: It was trying to hit a goal of producing
100,000 155mm shells a month by the end of 2025 but won’t meet that
goal now until 2026, Army spokesman Steve Warren said.
Ramping up Patriot missile production also has been challenging,
Warren said.
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in a statement Tuesday that he was
glad Trump was resuming deliveries to Ukraine.
“This time, the President will need to reject calls from the
isolationists and restrainers within his Administration to limit
these deliveries to defensive weapons," McConnell said. “And he
should disregard those at DoD who invoke munitions shortages to
block aid while refusing to invest seriously in expanding munitions
production.”
___
Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro and Matthew Lee contributed to
this report.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
