🛑 In the early days of Donald Trump’s second presidential term, an unexpected delay occurred in the delivery of American weapons to Ukraine — 11 flights carrying artillery ammunition and other arms were canceled. The order was given by Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth.
Source: “Espreso“
🛬 About a week after Trump’s inauguration, three American cargo airlines were instructed to stop flights from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware and from a base in the UAE that were supposed to deliver ammunition to Ukraine.
😟 The news caused concern in Kyiv and among partners in Poland who were coordinating the deliveries. Questions arose: who exactly gave the order, and was it a complete halt of aid or just a pause?
🤷♂️ Senior officials from the White House, Pentagon, and State Department had no clear answers at the time. A week later, the flights resumed.
📑 According to TRANSCOM documents, the verbal order came directly from the office of U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
🏛️ Three Reuters sources reported that the decision to cancel the flights was made after a January 30 meeting in the Oval Office attended by Trump, Hegseth, and other national security officials.
🤔 According to the sources, although the idea of halting aid was discussed, President Trump did not issue a formal directive.
📢 The White House confirmed that Hegseth acted under the administration’s directive but did not explain the reason for the quick reversal of the decision.
🗣️ White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt stated that negotiations to end the Russia–Ukraine war are a complex process, and that peace is allegedly closer today than at the time of Trump’s inauguration.
📉 Defense analyst Mark Cancian called the incident an example of Trump’s management style — swift, radical decisions followed by dealing with the consequences. Such a practice, he said, is incompatible with the functioning of defense institutions.
💸 Due to the canceled flights, the U.S. Transportation Command incurred losses of $2.2 million.
⚖️ The incident also highlighted internal disagreements within the Pentagon regarding U.S. foreign policy and approaches to managing military aid.