Trump weighs new Ukraine aid package

President Donald Trump is weighing a new military aid package for Ukraine worth hundreds of millions of dollars, according to two people familiar with the plan, the first potential aid from the administration to the beleaguered country.

The discussions come just over a week after the Pentagon blindsided many in the White House by abruptly halting part of an existing aid package with thousands of artillery rounds and precision ammunition. Trump has said that aid will resume.

A new weapons package would underline the administration’s internal divisions over Ukraine assistance as its battle against Russia grinds past a third year.

The money would come from a fund Congress approved last year under President Joe Biden that allows the Defense Department to take weapons out of U.S. military’s stockpiles for Ukraine. The fund, known as presidential drawdown authority, still holds about $3.8 billion.

Trump, who has expressed frustration with the Kremlin’s refusal to help broker an end to the war, hinted in a Thursday interview with NBC News about “a major statement” on Monday involving Russia.

He teased the announcement again on Friday, when asked by reporters about Russia’s overnight bombardment of a Ukrainian maternity hospital. “You’ll be seeing things happen,” he said.

Neither the White House nor the Pentagon responded to requests for comment. Reuters first reported that the administration was considering new aid.

NATO nations, meanwhile, are working on a larger deal to purchase U.S. weapons for Ukraine, said a congressional aide, who like others, was granted anonymity to discuss internal conversations. POLITICO reported earlier this month that Kyiv is asking Washington to let Europe buy American weapons.

“We send weapons to NATO, and NATO is going to reimburse the full cost of those weapons,” Trump said in the NBC interview.

Defense Department officials said they halted the weapons shipments due to concerns about U.S. stockpiles. But some officials disagreed that these relatively small shipments would have an adverse impact on U.S capabilities.

The issue led Deputy Defense Secretary Steven Feinberg to call defense industry executives into his office for a meeting last month to discuss concerns over the stockpiles, according to a person briefed on the conversation. That person said the concerns were similar to those articulated by the Biden administration in its final months: the Ukraine war, along with continued operations in the Middle East, was taking a toll on the Pentagon’s munitions stockpiles.

Feinberg, who handles the Pentagon’s budgeting process, is considering sending Congress a proposal for a new munitions funding package, according to the person, and is pushing the defense industry to speed up its production of air defenses and precision rockets and missiles.

The aid package for Ukraine that was halted this month included 30 Patriot air defense missiles and hundreds of precision weapons that Ukraine uses for offensive and defensive purposes. Some 8,000 155mm howitzers shells and 250 Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System rockets have started moving into Ukraine, but it is unclear if and when the Patriot air defense missiles will move, according to one of the people familiar with the situation.

The potential new military assistance, the first from the U.S. since January, comes as Ukraine’s cities have faced the heaviest Russian drone and missile bombardments yet. Russian attacks on Ukraine overnight killed nine people and left dozens wounded.