Sunday, October 19, 2025
Sunday, October 19, 2025
A senior defense official acknowledged today that the Pentagon might not be able to use all of its remaining $5.6 billion in Presidential Drawdown Authority to rapidly transfer U.S. weapons to Ukraine before President-elect Trump is sworn in.
“We will continue to do drawdown packages for the remainder of this administration but $5.6 billion is a substantial amount of authority, so I would certainly anticipate that there could be remaining authority that could transition and be available for the next administration to use,” said the official, who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, the Defense Department does plan to exhaust its remaining $1.2 billion in Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funds before the end of the calendar year. The money from USAI is used to put weapon systems directly under contract with U.S. defense firms, though it may take months or years for the capabilities to arrive on the battlefield.
Trump has long been critical of U.S. aid to Ukraine in its fight against Russia and said during a televised speech yesterday that he intends to seek an end to the war by pushing both sides to negotiate for peace.
“He should be prepared to make a deal, that’s all,” Trump said of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump said, “has to make a deal too.”
Trump also said he disagreed with the Biden administration’s decision to allow Ukraine to use long-range Army Tactical Missiles Systems to hit targets in Russia.
“I don’t think they should have allowed missiles to be shot 200 miles into Russia,” he said.
The remarks are the latest signal that Trump could seek to end or curtail U.S. military aid to Ukraine when he takes office in January.
“If I were president, that war would have never happened,” Trump said.