WASHINGTON: The US is halting some shipments of weapons to Ukraine amid concerns that its own stockpiles have declined too much, officials said Tuesday.
The munitions were previously promised to Ukraine for use during its ongoing war with Russia under the Biden administration. But the pause reflects a new set of priorities under President Donald Trump.
“This decision was made to put America’s interests first following a (Defense Department) review of our nation’s military support and assistance to other countries across the globe,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement. “The strength of the United States Armed Forces remains unquestioned — just ask Iran.”
That was a reference to Trump recently ordering US missile strikes against nuclear sites in Iran.
The Pentagon review determined that stocks were too low on some items previously pledged, so pending shipments of some items won’t be sent, according to a US official who spoke on condition of anonymity to provide information that has not yet been made public.
To date, the US has provided Ukraine more than $66 billion worth of weapons and military assistance since Russia invaded in February 2022.
Over the course of the war, the US has routinely pressed for allies to provide air defense systems to Ukraine. But many are reluctant to give up the high-tech systems, particularly countries in Eastern Europe that also feel threatened by Russia.
The halt of some weapons comes after Russia launched its biggest combined aerial attack against Ukraine over the weekend, Ukrainian officials said, in an escalating bombing campaign that has further dashed hopes for a breakthrough in peace efforts championed by Trump.
The US stoppage was first reported by Politico.
Trump met with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the NATO summit last week and had left open the possibility of sending Kyiv more US-made Patriot air defense missile systems, acknowledging they would help the Ukrainian cause.
“They do want to have the antimissile missiles, OK, as they call them, the Patriots,” Trump said then. “And we’re going to see if we can make some available. We need them, too. We’re supplying them to Israel, and they’re very effective, 100 percent effective. Hard to believe how effective. They do want that more than any other thing.”
Those comments reflect a change of thinking about providing weapons to Ukraine across the administration in recent months.
In opening remarks at a Senate defense appropriations subcommittee hearing in June, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he has moved quickly to quash wasteful programs and redirect funding to Trump’s top objectives.
Hegseth said a negotiated peace between Russia and Ukraine, which has been promoted for months by Trump, makes America look strong, even though Moscow is the aggressor in the conflict. He also said the budget includes hard choices and “reflects the reality that Europe needs to step up more for the defense of its own continent. And President Trump deserves the credit for that.”
The defense secretary said during that testimony that some US security spending for Ukraine is still in the pipeline, but provided no details. Hegseth also acknowledged that funding for Ukraine military assistance — which has been robust for the past two years — would be reduced.
“This administration takes a very different view of that conflict,” Hegseth said. “We believe that a negotiated peaceful settlement is in the best interest of both parties and our nation’s interests.”
Last month, Hegseth skipped a meeting of an international group to coordinate military aid to Ukraine that the US created three years ago. Hegseth’s predecessor, Lloyd Austin, formed the group after Russia attacked Ukraine, and Hegseth’s absence was the first time the US defense secretary wasn’t in attendance.
Under Austin’s leadership, the US served as chair of the group, and he and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff attended monthly meetings, which were both in person and by video. Hegseth had previously stepped away from a leadership role of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group — turning that over to Germany and the United Kingdom — before abandoning the gathering altogether.

WASHINGTON: US Senate Republicans passed President Donald Trump’s massive tax-and-spending bill on Tuesday by the narrowest of margins, advancing a package that would slash taxes, reduce social safety net programs and boost military and immigration enforcement spending while adding $3.3 trillion to the national debt.

The legislation now heads to the House of Representatives for possible final approval, though a handful of Republicans there have already voiced opposition to some of the Senate provisions.

Trump wants to sign it into law by the July 4 Independence Day holiday, and House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement that he aimed to meet that deadline.

The measure would extend Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, give new tax breaks for income from tips and overtime pay and increase spending on the military and immigration enforcement. It also would cut about $930 billion of spending on the Medicaid health program and food aid for low-income Americans and repeal many of Democratic former President Joe Biden’s green-energy incentives.

The legislation, which has exposed Republican divides over the nation’s fast-growing $36.2 trillion debt, would raise the federal government’s self-imposed debt ceiling by $5 trillion. Congress must raise the cap in the coming months or risk a devastating default.

The Senate passed the measure in a 51-50 vote with Vice President JD Vance breaking a tie after three Republicans — Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky — joined all 47 Democrats in voting against the bill.

The vote followed an all-night debate in which Republicans grappled with the bill’s price tag and its impact on the US health care system.
Much of the late horse-trading was aimed at winning over Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who had signaled she would vote against the bill without significant alterations.

The final Senate bill included two provisions that helped secure her vote: one that sends more food-aid funding to Alaska and several other states, and another providing $50 billion to help rural hospitals cope with the sweeping cuts to Medicaid. Following the vote, Murkowski issued a statement calling it one of the hardest of her Senate career said she had voted yes despite some continued reservations. “This has been an awful process — a frantic rush to meet an artificial deadline that has tested every limit of this institution,” she said. “This bill needs more work across chambers and is not ready for the President’s desk.”

The vote in the House, where Republicans hold a 220-212 majority, is likely to be close. A White House official told reporters that Trump would be “deeply involved” in pushing House Republicans to approve the bill.
“It’s a great bill. There is something for everyone,” Trump said at an event in Florida on Tuesday. “And I think it’s going to go very nicely in the House.”

An initial version passed with only two votes to spare in May, and several House Republicans have said they do not support the Senate version, which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates will add $800 billion more to the national debt than the House version.

Republicans have struggled to balance conservatives’ demands for deeper spending cuts to reduce the impact on the deficit with moderate lawmakers’ concerns that the Medicaid cuts could hurt their constituents, including service cutbacks in rural areas.

The House Freedom Caucus, a group of hard-line conservatives who repeatedly threatened to withhold their support for the tax bill, has criticized the Senate version’s price tag.
“There’s a significant number who are concerned,” Republican Representative Chip Roy, a member of the Freedom Caucus, said of the Senate bill.

A group of more moderate House Republicans, especially those who represent lower-income areas, have objected to the steeper Medicaid cuts in the Senate’s plan.

Meanwhile, Republicans have faced separate concerns from a handful of House Republicans from high-tax states, including New York, New Jersey and California, who have demanded a larger tax break for state and local tax payments. The legislation has also drawn criticism from billionaire Elon Musk, the former Trump ally who has railed against the bill’s enormous cost and vowed to back challengers to Republican lawmakers in next year’s midterm elections.

House Democrats are expected to remain unanimously opposed to the bill.

“This is the largest assault on American health care in history,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters. “It’s the largest assault on nutrition in American history.”

The Senate bill would deliver some of its biggest benefits to the top 1 percent of US households, earning $663,000 or more in 2025, according to the Tax Foundation. These high earners would gain the most from the bill’s tax cuts, the CBO has said. Independent analysts have said the bill’s tightening of eligibility for food and health safety net programs would effectively reduce poor Americans’ incomes and increase their costs for food and health care.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office forecast that nearly 12 million more people would become uninsured under the Senate plan. The bill’s increase in the national debt effectively serves as a wealth transfer from younger to older Americans, nonpartisan analysts have said.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said the vote “covered this chamber in shame,” adding that the bill would be “ripping health care away from millions of Americans, taking the food out of the mouths of hungry kids.”

Republicans rejected the cost estimate generated by the CBO’s longstanding methodology and have argued the Medicaid cuts would only root out “waste, fraud and abuse” from the system.
Following the vote, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the bill “will permanently extend tax relief for hard-working Americans...that will spur economic growth and more jobs and opportunities for American workers.”