The president is not concerned that his underlings are independently intervening in American foreign policy without any authorization to do so.
Speaking with reporters in the State Dining Room Wednesday, Donald Trump said that he hadn’t given much attention to a CNN report that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had independently halted a weapons shipment to Ukraine last week.
“Sir, yesterday you said you were not sure who ordered the munitions halted to Ukraine—have you since been able to figure that out?” asked a reporter.
“Well I haven’t thought about it,” Trump said. “Because we’re looking at Ukraine right now and munitions. But no, I have not gone into it.”
“What does it say that such a big decision could be made inside your government without you knowing?” the reporter pressed.
“I would know. If a decision is made, I will know. I would be the first to know,” Trump responded. The president, per his own confession on Tuesday, did not know who had made the decision.
Reporter: Yesterday you said you weren’t sure who ordered the munitions halted to Ukraine—have you since been able to figure that out? Trump: I have not thought about it. Reporter: What does it say that such a big decision could be made inside your government without you… pic.twitter.com/OG4zFY9h60
— Acyn (@Acyn) July 9, 2025
Practically everyone was blindsided by news of the halted shipment, including officials in the White House, the State Department, Congress, Kyiv, and America’s European allies, setting off a mad dash within the administration to explain the unexpected directive.
Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday that he was “not responsible” for the canceled shipment, telling the war-battered leader that he had directed a review of U.S. stockpiles but did not order the freeze, according to sources that spoke with The Guardian. The president reiterated that point during a Cabinet meeting Tuesday, telling reporters that he didn’t know who authorized the move.
The White House has refused to confirm that Hegseth was behind the stalled delivery. But even if Hegseth has become the convenient fall guy for the serious foreign policy flub, Trump still doesn’t look good. The White House is stuck in a P.R. nightmare: Either paint its Pentagon chief as a rogue agent, or expose the president’s obliviousness to the inner machinations of his own team and its foreign policy agenda.
Regardless, it’s not the first time that Hegseth has intervened in U.S. foreign policy without Trump’s express approval: In February, the Pentagon chief executed the same flub, pausing a weapons shipment to Ukraine despite the fact that Trump had announced the flow would continue.
The post Trump Crashes Out Over Question About Chaotic Ukraine Aid Pause appeared first on New Republic.
