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The Senate is trying to curb Trump’s administration’s policies against Ukraine. Ukraine is shaking between support and sudden withdrawal, allies and officials speculate.
After President Donald Trump recently agreed to resume sending arms to Ukraine, the Senate’s annual defense policy bill would curb administrative adventurism that has sparked bipartisan concerns, particularly regarding the Pentagon’s decision.
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), released Friday after bipartisan negotiations by the Senate Armed Services Committee, includes specific guardrails on US military cooperation. Some provisions state that the Secretary of Defense cannot unilaterally halt the sharing and targeting of military intelligence with Ukraine.
The move follows an episode in March when the Trump administration suddenly suspends both intelligence reporting support to Ukraine and the shipment of arms, and the president pursues back-channel diplomacy with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The freeze was later lifted, but the incident warned lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
Trump reveals NATO sales to increase weapons to Ukraine as President Putin begins his overnight birth hospital strike
Firefighters work at a horse stall that was heavily damaged by a Russian drone strike in Odesa, Ukraine on July 11, 2025.
The NDAA also reaffirms that it is a US policy to help Ukraine maintain a reliable defense, and raises Ukraine’s security assistance initiative to $500 million.
Bill prohibits Defense Secretary Pete Hegses from reducing the stance of the US military in Europe or abandoning the US role as NATO’s highest allied commander without analyzing and certification of congressional impacts that such changes coincide with US interests.
The new regulations arrive amid a marked shift in Trump’s rhetoric, making them more supportive of Ukraine and more critical of Putin.
Earlier this month, the Pentagon once again suspended Kiev the delivery of previously pledged defensive aid, citing an internal assessment of the US stockpile. Reports indicate that the suspension may have been launched without notifying the White House.
Former President Donald Trump, the Republican candidate for the US president, will meet Ukrainian President Voldymir Zelensky at Trump Tower on September 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Julia Demarie Nikinson)
“This decision was made to put America’s interests first,” White House spokesman Anna Kelly said, referring to the Department of Defense review. Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell repeated the framing, calling it a “ability review,” adding that “we cannot arm everyone in the world.”
Shortly afterwards, Trump contradicted the suspension by suggesting that the US would send additional defensive aid to Patriot missile interceptors and Ukraine. The Department of Defense has since announced that it will resume shipping.
“We’re going to send a little more weapons. We have to do it. They have to be able to protect themselves,” Trump said Monday evening.
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters on July 11, 2025, to set out on a trip to a fatal flash flood-affected tour area from the Southern Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C. (Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)
Last week, despite speaking with both Russian President Voldymi Zelenkie and Putin, Trump described his argument with the Russian president as fruitless.
“We got a lot of bulls — we were thrown into us by Putin,” Trump told reporters at a cabinet meeting. “He’s always so lovely, but it turns out to be pointless.”
Trump seemed uncertain as he pressed on who allowed military aid to suspend.
“I don’t know, why don’t you tell me?” he said Wednesday. Trump told Zelensky he was not responsible for the decision, according to the Wall Street Journal.
We’ll need to send weapons to Ukraine, Trump says a few days after the pentagon is paused
When reporters asked if they understood who ordered the suspension, Trump replied, “Well, I’m not thinking about it… I’m not in it.”
He said that such a big decision could be made without his knowledge, and he said, “I would know if a decision was made. I would know. I would know. I would know first.”
Trump ordered the Pentagon to send more ammunition to Ukraine for use in the Patriot missile defense system. (Vitalii Nosach/Global Images ukraine via Getty Images)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio downplayed the importance of the suspension and described it as a “limited review” of certain ammunition types. This is a general step after sustained operations in the Middle East and Europe.
“It was logical,” Rubio said, “especially after the expansionary involvement in Israel and our own base defense.”
State Department spokesman Tammy Bruce also tried to reassure his allies, saying, “The president is clearly very passionate and has made up his mind regarding Ukraine’s ability to protect himself.”
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The administration’s current tone shows a tough shift from the beginning of the year when tensions between Trump and Zelensky reached a boiling point at the controversial February office meeting.
“You have to be grateful. You don’t have a card,” Trump told Zelensky after calling him a “dictator” earlier in the month.
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