Trump: I ‘Haven’t Thought About’ Who Ordered Ukraine Weapons Pause

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he hasn’t stopped to consider who ordered a recent pause on weapon shipments to Ukraine.

“I haven’t thought about it because we’re looking at Ukraine and munitions right now,” Trump said in response to a reporter’s questions during a White House meeting with West African leaders. “So no, I have not gotten into it.”

Trump went on to contradict himself and insist an order would not have been made without his approval.

“If a decision is made, I will know,” Trump said. “I will be the first to know, in fact, most likely I will give the order, but I haven’t done that yet.”

CNN reported Tuesday night that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth did not inform the White House before he authorized a weapons pause last week, “setting off a scramble” to determine why the decision had been made and to respond to questions about the administration’s reasoning. It was the second such time Hegseth tried to halt weapons shipments to the war-torn nation, according to the network.

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell responded to CNN’s reporting by calling it “a complete and total fabrication.”

“On a related note, one of the CNN ‘journalists’ involved in this fake narrative is a well established hoaxer,” Parnell wrote on X. “We made sure to mention that in our comment but CNN omitted it from the story.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt added that “the president has full confidence in the secretary of defense.”

The apparent dysfunction came to a head Monday night when Trump publicly contradicted Hegseth during a White House dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that he would resume aid shipments to Ukraine.

“We’re going to send some more weapons,” Trump said. “We have to. They have to be able to defend themselves.”

Shortly after, the Pentagon formally announced it would be restarting shipments at the direction of Trump.

Democrats seized on the narrative almost immediately. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries went as far as to say that Hegseth’s failure to consult with the Trump administration is a fireable offense.

“Pete Hegseth is the most unqualified defense secretary in American history,” Jeffries told CNN on Wednesday. “He undermines the ability of the Department of Defense to keep the American people safe, and Donald Trump should fire him or Pete Hegseth should tender his resignation.”