Defense Minister Pete Hegst did not inform President Donald Trump or the White House before the pause to be delivered to Ukraine last week, according to the report.
CNN pointed to five sources that revealed that Hegest’s decision “struggle” in the Trump administration spoke to find out why it was made and explained the Pentagon’s actions to the Ukrainian Congress and the government.
It was reported on Wednesday that the main reason for the pause was that US defense officials were worried that weapons reserves would be too low because they sought to divert guns to Israel to help it in Iran.
The move came as Ukraine faced fierce Russian attacks on its civilians, meaning that refusal to aid US aid was threatened to weaken the ability of the bag to counter the deadly ballistic missile attacks.
Trump reportedly told Hegst that after hearing the news last week, specifically intercepted missiles for the patriotic air defense systems that had previously been waiting for delivery in Poland, at least some ammunition to Ukraine.
He then suddenly revealed the call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his private dinner and told reporters, “We want to send more weapons. We must be able to defend themselves.
“They’re very hard. Now they are very hard. We have to send more weapons, defensive weapons, but they are very hard.”
Ukraine President Voldimir Zelksky had told ABC News earlier the day that his country had counted on US support.
Zelnsky said his armed forces, in particular, needed 20,000 anti -UAV missiles that were initially promised, which was first committed by the Joe Biden government, and he said he needed to counter Iran -made drones that Moscow has been raised on his country.
According to CNN, neither Marco Rubio’s Foreign Minister nor US Special Envoy in Ukraine, RET. General Kate Cloog was informed of the pause of weapons to Eastern Europe.
However, the Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson said in a statement: “The Minister of Hegst provided a framework for the president to evaluate the shipments of military aid and evaluate existing stocks. The effort was coordinated throughout the government.”
The White House Minister Caroline Lewat said the Pentagon conducted a survey “to ensure all foreign countries with US interests”, adding that the President “decided to continue supplying defense weapons to Ukraine to prevent murder in this brutal war, which the Pentagon has said they are active.”
He added that Trump “has complete confidence in the defense minister.”
Despite the assurance of Levit, the incident is the last case of the eyebrows in the Hegust chaos that leads to the Department of Defense (DOD).
After being nominated for the Pentagon’s leadership in November, Hegest tolerated a difficult nomination process, in which charges of drinking him and a rape claim were made before he was approved by the Senate in January.
Only two months of this role, when he did an anti -awakening clearing from the US Army, erupted the “signal” scandal in which Trump’s short -term national security consultant had randomly added Atlantic Ocean The editor of Jeffrey Goldberg was discussed in a signal group chat in which the top secret information was discussed about the future bombing of the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
In April, New York Times Hegest shared sensitive material in another group that included his wife, brother and personal lawyer.
The Foreign Minister responded to the story and accused the story of leaks of classified material by sudden suspension of two senior assistants, Dan Caldwell and Darin Selenik, as well as the head of Defense Secretary of Staff Carroll.
The trilogy said the treatment they received is “indescribable” and the investigation later found no evidence against them, which reportedly doubted the judgment of Hegst in the West.
Shortly thereafter, the chief of staff, Joe Casper, and a spokesman for John Ollyt, both left DOD and created an office in chaos.
It was subsequently reported that Hegest was trying to find qualified alternatives for his employees because of his unwillingness to cooperate, although Vice President JD Vance and White House Chief of Staff is said to have been prepared to help hire.
