Hegseth left Trump in the dark when he paused Ukraine weapons shipments: report
CNN cited five sources who revealed that Hegseth's decision sparked an internal 'scramble' within the Trump administration to understand why it was made and to explain the Pentagon's actions to Congress and to the Ukrainian government.
It was reported on Wednesday that the rationale behind the pause was that U.S. defense officials had become concerned that weapons stockpiles were too low as they looked to divert arms to Israel to help it take on Iran.
The move came at a time when Ukraine was facing intensified attacks from Russia against its civilians, meaning the withholding of American assistance threatened to weaken Kyiv's ability to counter deadly incoming ballistic missile assaults.
Trump reportedly told Hegseth to restart the shipment of at least some munitions to Ukraine after hearing the news last week, specifically interceptor missiles for Patriot air defense systems that were already in Poland awaiting delivery.
He then abruptly reversed the call entirely during his private dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday evening, telling reporters: 'We're going to send some more weapons. We have to, they have to be able to defend themselves.
'They're getting hit very hard. Now they're getting hit very hard. We're going to have to send more weapons, defensive weapons, primarily, but they're getting hit very, very hard.'
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had told ABC News earlier in the day that his country had been counting on the U.S. support.
Zelensky said his armed forces were particularly in need of the 20,000 anti-drone missiles originally promised, which were first pledged by Joe Biden's administration and which he said were needed to counter the Iranian-made Shahed drones that Moscow has been raining down on his country en masse.
According to CNN, neither Secretary of State Marco Rubio nor the U.S. Special Envoy to Ukraine, Ret. Gen. Keith Kellogg, were informed of the pause on weapons shipments to Eastern Europe.
However, Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson said in a statement: 'Secretary Hegseth provided a framework for the President to evaluate military aid shipments and assess existing stockpiles. This effort was coordinated across government.'
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the Pentagon conducted a review 'to ensure all support going to all foreign nations aligns with America's interests' and added that the president 'has made the decision to continue providing defensive weapons to Ukraine to help stop the killing in this brutal war, which the Pentagon has said they are actively working on.'
She added that Trump 'has full confidence in the Secretary of Defense.'
Despite Leavitt's reassurances, the incident is the latest to raise eyebrows about Hegseth's chaotic tenure leading the Department of Defense (DOD).
After being nominated to lead the Pentagon in November, the tough-talking Hegseth endured a torrid nomination process, in which accusations about his drinking and a sexual assault allegation came to light, before he was finally confirmed by the Senate in January.
Just two months into the role, as he busied himself with conducting an anti-woke purge of the U.S. military, the 'Signalgate' scandal erupted in which it emerged that Trump's short-lived national security adviser Mike Waltz had accidentally added Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg to a Signal group chat in which top secret information about an upcoming bombing raid on Houthi rebels in Yemen was discussed.
In April, The New York Times reported that Hegseth had shared sensitive material in another group chat that included his wife, brother and personal attorney.
The secretary responded to that story by abruptly suspending two senior aides, Dan Caldwell and Darin Selnick, as well as Colin Carroll, chief of staff to Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg, having accused them of leaking classified material.
The accused trio said the treatment they had received was 'unconscionable' and an investigation later found no evidence against them, which reportedly cast fresh doubt on Hegseth's judgment within the West Wing.
Shortly afterwards, his own chief of staff, Joe Kasper, and spokesperson John Ullyot both left the DOD, creating a perception of an office in chaos.
It was subsequently reported that Hegseth was struggling to find qualified replacements for his departed staff due to an apparent reluctance to work with him, with Vice President JD Vance and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles said to have been drafted in to help with the recruitment drive.
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