Hegseth fails to inform White House about delayed weapon shipments to Ukraine – media
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth did not inform the White House of his own decision to suspend arms shipments to Ukraine last week, CNN reported, citing five sources familiar with the matter.
" The episode underscores the often-haphazard policy-making process inside the Trump administration, particularly under Hegseth at the Defense Department. The pause was the second time this year that Hegseth had decided to halt the flow of US weapons to Ukraine, catching senior national security officials off guard, sources said," according to the the report.
The US special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were also reportedly not informed of the pause in advance and learned about it through press reports, according to a senior administration official and two sources.
Two sources explained that Hegseth did not inform the White House about it by the fact that he does not have a chief of staff or trusted advisers around him who could encourage him to better coordinate important policy decisions with interagency partners.
The publication notes that Trump did not instruct Hegseth to stop arms supplies to Ukraine as part of the arms stockpile review, three sources said. The recommendation came from Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby, who has long been skeptical of sending large amounts of US military aid to Ukraine, all five sources said. Colby provided his recommendations to Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg, who approved the move, in part because of his long-standing concerns that the defense industry was not moving fast enough to replenish U.S. stockpiles, two sources said. Hegseth gave the final approval, believing it would align with Trump’s "America First" priorities, one of the sources familiar with his thinking said.
After the White House learned of the pause, White House officials told Hegseth and the Defense Department that they would temporarily provide cover for the decision, two sources said, but the White House stressed that the Pentagon had to explain the move to Congress, which was also not informed in advance of the pause.
As reported, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered a temporary suspension of the supply of a number of types of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine, including Patriot interceptors, high-precision GMLRS missiles and other important systems
In turn, during a briefing in Washington, White House spokeswoman Caroline Levitt said that the decision to suspend the supply of weapons to Ukraine was not made by either the US president or the Pentagon without his consent. It is part of the standard procedure for reviewing all foreign military assistance conducted by the US Department of Defense.
However, after that, Trump, in a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, stated that he was not responsible for the suspension of weapons supplies to Kyiv and assured that the US would provide "as much military assistance as we can." Later, Trump expressed dissatisfaction with Vladimir Putin's actions and his intention to take appropriate measures, in particular, he confirmed that he planned to resume weapons supplies to Ukraine.
The US Department of Defense has announced the sending of additional defensive weapons to Ukraine at the request of President Donald Trump.
