Trump reportedly was unaware of Ukraine weapons pause

By Aamer Madhani Seing Min Kim and Tara Copp Associated Press WASHINGTON President Donald Trump s decision to send more defensive weapons to Ukraine came after he privately expressed frustration with Pentagon executives for announcing a pause in chosen 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 stated last week that it would hold back specific air defense missiles precision-guided artillery and other weapons pledged to Ukraine because of what U S agents revealed were concerns that American stockpiles were in short supply Trump disclosed Monday that the U S will have to send more weapons to Ukraine effectively reversing the move Related Articles Letters Supreme Court upholds Trump s inhumane policies Letters DA reflects Santa Clara County s views on death penalty Antisemitism hearings put UC Berkeley Cal Poly under congressional spotlight US adults want the administration to focus on child care costs not birth rates poll finds Trump tariffs hike prices at downtown San Jose farmers territory Two of the people who spoke on the condition of anonymity about the sensitive internal discussions revealed there was chosen internal opposition among Pentagon brass to the pause coordinated by Pentagon guidelines chief Elbridge Colby before it was communicated 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 authorities 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 announced in a message to The Associated Press The pause in critical weapons deliveries had come at a laborious 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 Solicited 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 declared he s determined to fast conclude Trump has struggled to find a resolution with talks between the sides stalled The Republican leader has sounded increasingly exasperated with Putin in contemporary 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 mentioned 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 reported 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 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 declared Tuesday that he s looking at it very strongly Pentagon says it s going to resume shipments to Ukraine The weapons pause broadcasted last week impacted shipments of Patriot missiles precision-guided GMLRS Hellfire missiles and Howitzer rounds and more taking not only Ukrainian leaders and other allies by surprise but also U S lawmakers and other parts of the Trump administration including the State Department The Pentagon disclosed 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 reported 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 reported They are literally still doing the math the official revealed 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 announced That earlier scrutiny had concluded that chosen 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 noted 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 amenity 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 current years particularly for high-demand items like mm 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 mm shells a month by the end of but won t meet that goal now until Army spokesman Steve Warren announced Ramping up Patriot missile production also has been challenging Warren reported Sen Mitch McConnell R-Ky commented in a message 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 stated 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 overview