U.S. Army air defenses are a sizzling hot commodity
Why it matters: Missile defense is hot right now, from the defense of Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar — during which the single largest Patriot salvo was launched — to the service's quadrupling of its PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement acquisition goal.
The stakes are further amplified by fighting in Eastern Europe and the greater Middle East, where explosive drones batter troops and civilians every day.
The latest: "Our air defenders are probably one of the most in-demand and operationally deployed capabilities that we have within the Army," David Fitzgerald, the senior official performing the duties of the undersecretary of the Army, said in an onstage interview during Axios' Future of Defense: Domes, Drones and Dollars event last night in the Rocket City.
"Those units get rode pretty hard," he said.
"I think that's just reflective, though, of the critical capability that they bring" to the fight.
The intrigue: Fitzgerald sees opportunities for increased AI application in the future.
Coordinated swarms of missiles, drones and decoys have complicated the job of protecting military bases, critical infrastructure and cities.
By the numbers: The Army is planning to grow its air-and-missile defense force by 30%, Defense News reported Tuesday.
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Axios
4 hours ago
- Axios
Truth Social's Perplexity search comes with Trump-friendly media sources
President Trump's social media company Truth Social unveiled a new search tool powered by AI answer engine Perplexity on Wednesday — but Truth Social users who run Perplexity searches may find their results limited to a narrow set of typically Trump-supporting media outlets. Why it matters: Increasingly, where you ask online matters as much as what you ask. Catch up quick: Trump Media & Technology Group on Wednesday said it was launching a public beta test of a search engine, Truth Search AI, powered by Perplexity. Perplexity has been seen as a nascent Google-killer and is often touted by investors as a possible acquisition target for the likes of Apple. How it works: Axios asked seven questions on both a logged-in Truth Social account and the free, logged-out Perplexity website … What happened on January 6, 2021? Why was Donald Trump impeached? What crimes was President Trump convicted of? Did Donald Trump lose the 2020 election? What is Hunter Biden's laptop a reference to? Was Hillary Clinton ever charged with a crime? Is the new "Naked Gun" movie good? Between the lines: In most cases, the responses were generally similar — but the sources linked to the answers were not. In all seven responses on Truth Social, either was the most common, or the only, listed source of information. Other sources were Washington Times or Epoch Times. In contrast, answers via the public version of Perplexity returned a wider variety of sources, including Wikipedia, Reddit, YouTube, NPR, Esquire and Politico. Although the questions were matched and asked at roughly the same time, there was no source overlap. What they're saying: A Perplexity spokesperson tells Axios that Truth Social is a customer of Perplexity's API, which means it — like tens of thousands of other developers — is building tools to its own specifications, and with its own restrictions. Any customization, like limiting the sources for its answers, would happen entirely on the Truth Social side. While it's standard practice for platforms to put their own layers of rules and information on top of tools, search tools usually cast a broader net. Truth Social did not mention any restrictions in its announcement, although it did say it plans to "refine and expand our search function based on user feedback." Perplexity's Sonar API specifically includes the ability for users to customize sources, which the company noted in January was a top user request. The bottom line: When you ask a search tool a question, particularly in the age of AI, it's best to know exactly where your information is coming from, and whether there are any limits on what the tool will tell you. Expect more of this as governments and businesses increasingly put their thumbs on the AI scale to serve their interests.
Business Wire
5 hours ago
- Business Wire
The Middleby Corporation Reports Second Quarter Results
ELGIN, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ: MIDD), a leading worldwide manufacturer of equipment for the commercial foodservice, food processing, and residential kitchen industries, today reported net earnings for the second quarter of 2025. Tim FitzGerald, CEO of The Middleby Corporation said, 'Our second quarter results reflect the economic uncertainty our customers continue to navigate in key end markets. Despite these headwinds, I'm proud of our team's continued execution in areas within our control. We're delivering strong operational performance, gaining market share with new product launches, and growing the partnerships with our customers. While these quarterly results reflect our market conditions, they don't appropriately capture the fundamental transformation we've achieved across our business to drive long-term growth, particularly across innovation and go-to-market capabilities. We believe we have created an unmatched platform, and as the market inflects, Middleby is poised for outsized growth as we solve increasingly complex challenges for our growing customer base.' FitzGerald concluded, 'Given our confidence in Middleby's trajectory, earlier this year we chose to allocate the vast majority of our free cash flow toward share repurchases as we do not believe our current market valuation reflects the substantial growth opportunities ahead of us. I am pleased to say we repurchased $323 million in the quarter and expect to continue deploying capital opportunistically. This will create significant leverage in our earnings per share as we execute against our plan.' 2025 Second Quarter Financial Results Net sales decreased 1.4% in the second quarter over the comparative prior year period. Excluding the impacts of acquisitions and foreign exchange rates, sales decreased 5.4% in the second quarter over the comparative prior year period. A reconciliation of organic net sales (a non-GAAP measure) by segment is as follows: Adjusted EBITDA (a non-GAAP measure) was $200.2 million in the second quarter compared to $216.4 million in the prior year. The second quarter Adjusted EBITDA includes an adverse impact of $10 million related to tariffs. A reconciliation of organic adjusted EBITDA (a non-GAAP measure) by segment is as follows: Commercial Foodservice Residential Kitchen Food Processing Total Company Adjusted EBITDA 27.0 % 10.3 % 21.2 % 20.5 % Acquisitions 0.1 % — % — % 0.1 % Foreign Exchange Rates 0.1 % 0.2 % 0.1 % 0.1 % Organic Adjusted EBITDA (1) (2) 26.8 % 10.1 % 21.1 % 20.3 % (1) Organic Adjusted EBITDA defined as Adjusted EBITDA excluding impact of acquisitions and foreign exchange rates. (2) Totals may be impacted by rounding Expand Operating cash flows during the second quarter amounted to $122.0 million in comparison to $149.5 million in the prior year period. During the second quarter the company repurchased $322.7 million of Middleby shares. The total leverage ratio per our credit agreements was 2.3x. The trailing twelve-month bank agreement pro-forma EBITDA was $848.3 million. Net debt, defined as debt excluding the unamortized discount associated with the Convertible Notes less cash, at the end of the 2025 fiscal second quarter amounted to $1.9 billion as compared to $1.7 billion at the end of fiscal 2024. Our borrowing availability at the end of the second quarter was approximately $2.7 billion. 2025 Outlook Management also provided the following expectations for the third quarter of 2025: Total revenue of $950-975 million; Commercial Foodservice revenue of $580-590 million; Residential Kitchen revenue of $170-180 million; Food Processing revenue of $195-205 million; Adjusted EBITDA of $185-195 million; and Adjusted Earnings Per Share of $2.04-2.19 assuming approximately 50.8 million weighted average shares outstanding. Management provided the following expectations for 2025: Total revenue of $3.81-3.87 billion; Adjusted EBITDA of $770-800 million; and Adjusted Earnings Per Share of $8.65-9.05 (1). 1) FY 2025 Adjusted EPS expectation is the sum of the four quarters of Adjusted EPS, with an underlying assumption of Q3 and Q4 QTD shares outstanding of 50.8 million and 51.0 million, respectively, which incorporates July activity. Expand Conference Call The company has scheduled a conference call to discuss the second quarter results at 11 a.m. Eastern/10 a.m. Central Time on August 6th. The conference call is accessible through the Investor Relations section of the company website at If website access is not available, attendees can join the conference by dialing (844) 676-5090, or (412) 634-6754 for international access, and ask to join the Middleby conference call. The conference call will be available for replay from the company's website. Statements in this press release or otherwise attributable to the company regarding the company's business which are not historical facts are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The company cautions investors that such statements are estimates of future performance and are highly dependent upon a variety of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. Such factors include variability in financing costs; quarterly variations in operating results; dependence on key customers; international exposure; foreign exchange and political risks affecting international sales; changing market conditions; the impact of competitive products and pricing; the timely development and market acceptance of the company's products; the availability and cost of raw materials; and other risks detailed herein and from time-to-time in the company's SEC filings. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date hereof, and the company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as required by law. The Middleby Corporation is a global leader in the foodservice industry. The company develops and manufactures a broad line of solutions used in commercial foodservice, food processing, and residential kitchens. Supporting the company's pursuit of the most sophisticated innovation, state-of-the-art Middleby Innovation Kitchens and Residential Showrooms showcase and demonstrate the most advanced Middleby solutions. In 2022 Middleby was named a World's Best Employer by Forbes and is a proud philanthropic partner to organizations addressing food insecurity. THE MIDDLEBY CORPORATION CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Amounts in 000's) (Unaudited) Jun 28, 2025 Dec 28, 2024 ASSETS Cash and cash equivalents $ 511,499 $ 689,533 Accounts receivable, net 665,833 643,355 Inventories, net 888,670 841,567 Prepaid expenses and other 134,168 131,566 Prepaid taxes 59,420 24,022 Total current assets 2,259,590 2,330,043 Property, plant and equipment, net 570,414 525,965 Goodwill 2,592,312 2,518,222 Other intangibles, net 1,614,020 1,611,037 Long-term deferred tax assets 6,768 6,281 Pension benefits assets 104,608 91,207 Other assets 188,171 200,396 Total assets $ 7,335,883 $ 7,283,151 LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY Current maturities of long-term debt $ 44,010 $ 43,949 Accounts payable 235,746 208,908 Accrued expenses 601,026 576,465 Total current liabilities 880,782 829,322 Long-term debt 2,331,772 2,351,118 Long-term deferred tax liability 303,353 252,062 Accrued pension benefits 9,188 9,573 Other non-current liabilities 188,233 202,645 Stockholders' equity 3,622,555 3,638,431 Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $ 7,335,883 $ 7,283,151 Expand THE MIDDLEBY CORPORATION NON-GAAP SEGMENT INFORMATION (UNAUDITED) (Amounts in 000's, Except Percentages) Commercial Foodservice (3) Residential Kitchen Food Processing (3) Total Company (1) Three Months Ended June 28, 2025 Net sales $ 580,605 $ 181,059 $ 216,195 $ 977,859 Segment Operating Income $ 137,902 $ 9,327 $ 42,677 $ 155,392 Operating Income % of net sales 23.8 % 5.2 % 19.7 % 15.9 % Depreciation 6,911 4,294 3,095 14,998 Amortization 10,952 1,835 2,629 15,416 Restructuring expenses 746 1,601 (59 ) 2,288 Acquisition related adjustments 37 125 (2,496 ) (2,334 ) Facility consolidation related expenses — 1,421 — 1,421 Strategic Transaction Costs — — — 6,788 Stock compensation — — — 6,224 Segment adjusted EBITDA (2) $ 156,548 $ 18,603 $ 45,846 $ 200,193 Adjusted EBITDA % of net sales 27.0 % 10.3 % 21.2 % 20.5 % Three Months Ended June 29, 2024 Net sales $ 609,811 $ 192,763 $ 188,972 $ 991,546 Segment Operating Income $ 149,425 $ 10,132 $ 42,772 $ 175,708 Operating Income % of net sales 24.5 % 5.3 % 22.6 % 17.7 % Depreciation 6,704 3,969 2,478 13,581 Amortization 12,729 1,799 1,760 16,288 Restructuring expenses 2,532 1,953 865 5,350 Acquisition related adjustments 191 (349 ) (2,197 ) (2,187 ) Stock compensation — — — 7,648 Segment adjusted EBITDA $ 171,581 $ 17,504 $ 45,678 $ 216,388 Adjusted EBITDA % of net sales 28.1 % 9.1 % 24.2 % 21.8 % (1) Includes corporate and other general company expenses, which impact Segment Adjusted EBITDA, and amounted to $20.8 million and $18.4 million for the three months ended June 28, 2025 and June 29, 2024, respectively. (2) Foreign exchange rates favorably impacted Segment Adjusted EBITDA by approximately $2.4 million for the three months ended June 28, 2025. (3) Certain prior year amounts have been reclassified to be consistent with current year presentation, including beginning to report the results of a division within its Food Processing segment as a result of a change in internal management and potential synergies in operations to be consistent with the reporting of financial information used to assess performance and allocate resources. These operations were previously reported in the Commercial Foodservice segment and are now managed and reported in the Food Processing segment. All prior period segment disclosures have been recast to reflect this change. Expand THE MIDDLEBY CORPORATION (Amounts in 000's, Except Percentages) Commercial Foodservice Residential Kitchen Food Processing Total Company (1) Six Months Ended June 28, 2025 Net sales $ 1,143,322 $ 357,063 $ 384,101 $ 1,884,486 Segment Operating Income $ 269,976 $ 21,134 $ 66,189 $ 295,990 Operating Income % of net sales 23.6 % 5.9 % 17.2 % 15.7 % Depreciation 13,541 8,304 5,986 29,354 Amortization 22,246 3,619 5,543 31,408 Restructuring expenses 1,883 3,082 52 5,017 Acquisition related adjustments 309 (384 ) (1,858 ) (1,933 ) Facility consolidation related expenses — 3,464 — 3,464 Strategic Transaction Costs — — — 10,261 Stock compensation — — — 8,712 Segment adjusted EBITDA (2) $ 307,955 $ 39,219 $ 75,912 $ 382,273 Adjusted EBITDA % of net sales 26.9 % 11.0 % 19.8 % 20.3 % Six Months Ended June 29, 2024 Net sales $ 1,191,224 $ 366,662 $ 360,586 $ 1,918,472 Segment Operating Income $ 279,537 $ 14,669 $ 76,671 $ 312,841 Operating Income % of net sales 23.5 % 4.0 % 21.3 % 16.3 % Depreciation 13,521 7,774 4,713 26,854 Amortization 26,323 3,601 3,714 33,638 Restructuring expenses 3,448 2,875 2,204 8,527 Acquisition related adjustments 686 (213 ) (1,806 ) (1,157 ) Stock compensation — — — 21,470 Segment adjusted EBITDA $ 323,515 $ 28,706 $ 85,496 $ 402,173 Adjusted EBITDA % of net sales 27.2 % 7.8 % 23.7 % 21.0 % (1) Includes corporate and other general company expenses, which impact Segment Adjusted EBITDA, and amounted to $40.8 million and $35.5 million for the six months ended June 28, 2025 and June 29, 2024, respectively. (2) Foreign exchange rates favorably impacted Segment Adjusted EBITDA by $1.5 million for the six months ended June 28, 2025. (3) Certain prior year amounts have been reclassified to be consistent with current year presentation, including beginning to report the results of a division within its Food Processing segment as a result of a change in internal management and potential synergies in operations to be consistent with the reporting of financial information used to assess performance and allocate resources. These operations were previously reported in the Commercial Foodservice segment and are now managed and reported in the Food Processing segment. All prior period segment disclosures have been recast to reflect this change. Expand THE MIDDLEBY CORPORATION NON-GAAP INFORMATION (UNAUDITED) (Amounts in 000's, Except Percentages) Three Months Ended 2nd Qtr, 2025 2nd Qtr, 2024 $ Diluted per share $ Diluted per share Net earnings $ 105,956 $ 1.99 $ 115,395 $ 2.13 Amortization (1) 17,192 0.32 18,066 0.33 Restructuring expenses 2,288 0.04 5,350 0.10 Acquisition related adjustments (2,334 ) (0.04 ) (2,187 ) (0.04 ) Facility consolidation related expenses 1,421 0.03 — — Net periodic pension benefit (other than service costs & curtailment) (1,580 ) (0.03 ) (3,690 ) (0.07 ) Strategic Transaction Costs 6,788 0.13 — — Income tax effect of pre-tax adjustments (5,825 ) (0.11 ) (4,455 ) (0.08 ) Adjustment for shares excluded due to anti-dilution effect on GAAP net earnings (2) — 0.02 — 0.02 Adjusted net earnings $ 123,906 $ 2.35 $ 128,479 $ 2.39 Diluted weighted average number of shares 53,154 54,072 (2) (511 ) (300 ) Adjusted diluted weighted average number of shares 52,643 53,772 Six Months Ended 2nd Qtr, 2025 2nd Qtr, 2024 $ Diluted per share $ Diluted per share Net earnings $ 198,308 $ 3.68 $ 201,963 $ 3.72 Amortization (1) 34,981 0.65 37,202 0.69 Restructuring expenses 5,017 0.09 8,527 0.16 Acquisition related adjustments (1,933 ) (0.04 ) (1,157 ) (0.02 ) Facility consolidation related expenses 3,464 0.06 — — Net periodic pension benefit (other than service costs & curtailment) (3,077 ) (0.06 ) (7,368 ) (0.14 ) Strategic Transaction Costs 10,261 0.19 — — Income tax effect of pre-tax adjustments (11,935 ) (0.22 ) (9,338 ) (0.17 ) Adjustment for shares excluded due to anti-dilution effect on GAAP net earnings (2) — 0.08 — 0.04 Adjusted net earnings $ 235,086 $ 4.43 $ 229,829 $ 4.28 Diluted weighted average number of shares 53,888 54,233 Adjustment for shares excluded due to anti-dilution effect on GAAP net earnings (2) (769 ) (519 ) Adjusted diluted weighted average number of shares 53,119 53,714 (1) Includes amortization of deferred financing costs and convertible notes issuance costs. (2) Adjusted diluted weighted average number of shares was calculated based on excluding the dilutive effect of shares to be issued upon conversion of the notes to satisfy the amount in excess of the principal since the company's capped call offsets the dilutive impact of the shares underlying the convertible notes. The calculation of adjusted diluted earnings per share excludes the principal portion of the convertible notes as this will always be settled in cash. Expand USE OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES The company supplements its consolidated financial statements presented on a GAAP basis with this non-GAAP financial information to provide investors with greater insight, increase transparency and allow for a more comprehensive understanding of the information used by management in its financial and operational decision-making. The non-GAAP financial measures disclosed by the company should not be considered a substitute for, or superior to, financial measures prepared in accordance with GAAP, and the financial results prepared in accordance with GAAP and reconciliations from these results should be carefully evaluated. In addition, the non-GAAP financial measures included in this press release do not have standard meanings and may vary from similarly titled non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies. The company believes that organic net sales growth, adjusted EBITDA, non-GAAP adjusted segment EBITDA, net debt, net leverage, adjusted net earnings and adjusted diluted per share measures are useful as supplements to its GAAP results of operations to evaluate certain aspects of its operations and financial performance, and its management team primarily focuses on non-GAAP items in evaluating performance for business planning purposes. The company also believes that these measures assist it with comparing its performance between various reporting periods on a consistent basis, as these measures remove from operating results the impact of items that, in its opinion, do not reflect its core operating performance including, for example, intangibles amortization expense, impairment charges, restructuring expenses, and other charges which management considers to be outside core operating results. The company believes that free cash flow is an important measure of operating performance because it provides management and investors with a measure of cash generated from operations that is available for mandatory payment obligations and investment opportunities, such as funding acquisitions, repaying debt and repurchasing our common stock. The company believes that its presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures is useful because it provides investors and securities analysts with the same information that Middleby uses internally for purposes of assessing its core operating performance.
Newsweek
5 hours ago
- Newsweek
Trump Scores Two Big Wins in One as NATO Buys US Arms for Ukraine
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A string of NATO state pledges to acquire mostly U.S. weapons to provide to Ukraine has marked a victory for President Donald Trump in his effort to strike a balance on shifting the burden of Washington's role in the war to European allies while maintaining a role in the conflict. The developments take place as Trump has hardened his rhetoric against Russian President Vladimir Putin, offering him until Friday to demonstrate progress on stalled peace talks. "This initiative strikes the correct balance between ensuring Ukraine has the weapons needed to continue to resist Russian aggression and buying time for President Trump's diplomacy and economic pressure to take hold," Alexander Gray, a senior fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council who served on the staff of the National Security Council under the first Trump administration, told Newsweek. Gray also pointed out the broader geopolitical stakes that the Trump administration had in mind, including "the very real need of the United States to empower Europe to take the lead in its backyard while U.S. attention adjusts to the existential threat of China in the Indo-Pacific." U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a press conference during the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in The Hague on June 25, 2025. U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a press conference during the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in The Hague on June 25, 2025. JOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images Money and Munitions on the Move The Netherlands was the first to announce on Monday that it would deliver an estimated $580 million package of U.S. weapons, including Patriot air defense systems and artillery equipment, to Ukraine. NATO reported the following day that Denmark, Norway and Sweden had confirmed they would purchase $500 million worth of U.S.-sourced equipment. Both moves mark the first two tranches under the NATO-led Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) initiative. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce welcomed the back-to-back moves as critical for Ukraine, as well as for the Trump administration's broader outlook on recalibrating the transatlantic security partnerships in a way that was more beneficial to the U.S. "These commitments deliver on President Trump's initiative to facilitate billions of dollars in investment to the United States defense industry and create American jobs while ensuring Europe can ultimately defend itself long term," Bruce told reporters on Tuesday. They also come on the heels of a trade deal reached late last month between the U.S. and the European Union, through which Trump said EU member states—the majority of whom are also in NATO—agreed to purchase "hundreds of billions of dollars-worth of military equipment" from the U.S. Last week, EU Ambassador to the U.S. Jovita Neliupšienė spoke to the importance of the military component of the trade agreement, both in the context of the war in Ukraine and EU member states' own security, in an interview with Newsweek. "Because of the Russian aggression in Ukraine, and because for European countries, security is really an existential topic right now," Neliupšienė told Newsweek at the time, "I think cooperation on the strategic level, but as well on defense procurement with the U.S., is extremely important." A Patriot air defense system is seen installed at the military hub for Ukraine at the Rzeszow-Jasionka airport in Jasionka, south-east Poland, on March 6, 2025. A Patriot air defense system is seen installed at the military hub for Ukraine at the Rzeszow-Jasionka airport in Jasionka, south-east Poland, on March 6, 2025. SERGEI GAPON/AFP/Getty Images A Transatlantic Shift Neliupšienė also discussed how European allies of the U.S. were looking to double down on investments in their own defense industrial base in order "to make sure we have more strategic independence, we have diversification, and we are really increasing the production and real defense industry on the ground, to have a possibility to not only to defend ourselves, but to deter." EU and NATO leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, have long sounded the alarm on the necessity for Europe to improve on defense. Such calls have accelerated this year since the reelection of Trump, who has repeatedly accused European leaders of taking advantage of U.S. security guarantees. The EU took an unprecedented step on this front in March, announcing that member states would spend some $685 billion—on top of more than $170 billion in EU loans—to launch a large-scale rearmament plan. With the tides of transatlantic security changing, Gray argued that the Trump administration should "continue to encourage Europe to invest in its own defense, including by purchasing U.S. systems like Patriot and others that strengthen our defense industrial base and further integrate our militaries." "This also has very real domestic benefits for the United States," he added. "President Trump is likely to continue encouraging significant arms sales from our partners globally, as he did in his first term for strategic and economic reasons, including to balance our trade deficits." A Ukrainian soldier stands on a U.S. Bradley Fighting Vehicle, on January 15, 2025, in Sumy, Ukraine. A Ukrainian soldier stands on a U.S. Bradley Fighting Vehicle, on January 15, 2025, in Sumy, Off of Washington While the rush of U.S. arms may serve to meet some of Ukraine's shortfalls on the battlefield, some argue the tranches also run the risk of deepening rather than countering European dependence on the U.S. in the long run. "Arms sales are an unfortunate Catch 22 situation, both for European policymakers and for American advocates of greater burden-shifting to Europe," Emma Ashford, senior fellow at the Stimson Center's Reimagining US Grand Strategy program, told Newsweek. "In the short run, purchasing U.S. arms may be good for the American economy— and also may enable European states to step up their military capabilities more quickly," Ashford said. "But in the long run, these purchases from the United States also undermine the development of a robust European defense industrial base." At the same time, she argued that "European allies buying American weapons to send to Ukraine is more sustainable from the point of view of U.S. public opinion, in that it reduces the concerns over cost among the public and policymakers." "It also means that Congress does not need to take up another supplemental spending bill, which could be politically problematic for many members," Ashford said, "and that the Trump administration—which has publicly opposed such a bill—would not have to sign it." There's another challenge she points out, and that's a "concrete shortfall in some weapons systems needed for both the Indo-Pacific and Europe, and in a few cases, the Middle East." "Money does not resolve this concern, which particularly attaches to things like air defense systems," she said, "this was the source of the recent disagreement over the Pentagon's halt on weapons systems to Ukraine." A destroyed U.S.-made M1 Abrams tank is seen in footage released by the Russian military on April 8, 2025. A destroyed U.S.-made M1 Abrams tank is seen in footage released by the Russian military on April 8, 2025. Russian Defense Ministry Press Service Press Service/AP 'Europeans Need to Do More' With the dust still settling from the U.S.-EU trade deal, some analysts in Europe see the recent NATO arrangement as a step forward, though not without uncertainty. "From a U.S. political perspective, it is understandable that President Trump— frustrated by his failed efforts to broker a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, and constrained by his MAGA base and campaign promises to end military aid— has been seeking an alternative solution to keep Ukraine armed," Juraj Macjin, policy analyst at the European Policy Center in Brussels, told Newsweek. "Despite repeatedly calling it 'Joe Biden's war,'" Macjin said, "Trump knows that the fall of Kyiv would mark a major strategic failure for any U.S. administration, including his own." He called the new NATO mechanism as "commendable," but argued it "does little to strengthen the quality of the transatlantic partnership" at a time when European skepticism toward Trump's long-term commitments on the continent remained high. "Many in Europe perceive this approach as a way for the United States to quietly distance itself from both the war in Ukraine and its European allies," Macjin said, "however diplomatically framed by NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte." "Furthemore, viewed in the context of the recently concluded EU–U.S. trade agreement," he added, "many in Europe feel that the deal offers limited benefits for the EU and is largely tilted in favor of Washington." And at a time when the U.S. was eyeing its rivalry with China in the Asia-Pacific, he said that "Europeans need to do more to persuade Trump that supporting Ukraine is in America's strategic interest." "With only a fraction of its GDP, the U.S. is significantly degrading military capabilities of one of its main adversaries—Russia—while also sending a clear message to China," he added, "which is closely watching how Washington manages its security commitments."
