A verbal order from U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth briefly halted 11 arms shipments to Ukraine without presidential approval, exposing cracks in Trump’s early national security process.
Just a week into President Donald Trump’s second term, the U.S. military halted 11 flights carrying weapons to Ukraine. The order, issued verbally from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s office, stopped shipments from Dover Air Force Base and a U.S. base in the UAE.
The pause stunned officials in Kyiv, Warsaw, and Washington. Top national security staff were unaware of the decision, and the White House said the move reflected Trump's position at the time. But according to several sources, Trump gave no instruction to stop aid.
The flights resumed within days, but the confusion underscored deeper dysfunction. TRANSCOM records show the order came after a January 30 Oval Office meeting. Sources say Hegseth may have misunderstood a discussion about using aid as leverage in peace talks.
The incident cost TRANSCOM up to $2.2 million and raised concerns about the chain of command. National Security Adviser Mike Waltz later reversed the decision. He was removed from his post last week and is now expected to be nominated U.S. ambassador to the U.N.
Behind the scenes, Hegseth was reportedly influenced by a group of Pentagon advisers with no prior government experience and anti-interventionist views. Some of those staffers, including Dan Caldwell, were later escorted from the building over alleged security breaches.
The White House maintains that the war is closer to resolution than when Trump took office. But Ukraine, already struggling in the east, was caught off guard by the pause. U.S. and European officials described it to Kyiv as “internal politics.”
No new military aid policy has been announced. The final Biden-era shipments are now moving again.
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Here's your AnewZ Daily Brief for 30 September 2026. These are the top five stories making headlines in Europe.
Israel believes an incident aboard a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv may have been an attempted “terror attack” by one of the pilots, after the plane rapidly descended and was diverted to Saudi Arabia.
Three Pakistani sailors are among five crew members killed after a tanker hijacked by pirates off Somalia was recovered by Puntland security forces following more than five months in captivity.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Azerbaijan’s Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev discussed closer bilateral ties and the implementation of existing agreements during a meeting in Tehran.
Israel believes an incident aboard a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv may have been an attempted “terror attack” by one of the pilots, after the plane rapidly descended and was diverted to Saudi Arabia.
The war between Iran and the U.S. is creating a widening security challenge for Saudi Arabia, stretching from Yemen’s Red Sea coast to Iraq as the Houthis emerge as a growing source of pressure on the kingdom.
North Korea has dismissed as a “farce” Seoul’s claim that Pyongyang was responsible for a landmine explosion south of the Military Demarcation Line that injured three South Korean soldiers.
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