Who paused Ukraine weapons a mystery to El Trumpo

[steve...]

Apparently it was former inebriated strip club patron (now US Secretary of Defense) Hegseth who signed off on the suspension and didn't inform Trump or his Secretary of State about the decision. Only the best!

First few paragraphs from CNN:

Hegseth did not inform the White House before he authorized pause on weapon shipments to Ukraine, sources say

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth did not inform the White House before he authorized a pause on weapons shipments to Ukraine last week, according to five sources familiar with the matter, setting off a scramble inside the administration to understand why the halt was implemented and explain it to Congress and the Ukrainian government.

President Donald Trump suggested on Tuesday that he was not responsible for the move. Asked on Tuesday during a Cabinet meeting whether he approved of the pause in shipments, Trump demurred, saying only that the US would continue to send defensive weapons to Ukraine. Pressed again on who authorized the pause, Trump replied, “I don’t know, why don’t you tell me?”

The episode underscores the often-haphazard policy-making process inside the Trump administration, particularly under Hegseth at the Defense Department. The pause was the second time this year that Hegseth had decided to halt the flow of US weapons to Ukraine, catching senior national security officials off guard, sources said.

[ThePosterFormallyKnownasbfd]

Inmates running the asylum - and this time around, there's none of those pesky wardens to worry about…

Insanity at its finest.

[cbelt3]

The idiots accepting and carrying out unlawful orders…

[special]

The good news is that Trump is getting upset with Putin. Hopefully he will support Ukraine, not because it's the right thing to do, but just to piss off Putin.

[pdq2]

You know, I’m kinda surprised everyone seems to believe that Hegseth actually unilaterally suspended aid to Ukraine (after a study he apparently asked for showed no significant decrease in our force readiness by supporting Ukraine).

Have we forgotten that suspending aid to Ukraine was what Trump’s first impeachment was about?

Seems to me Occam’s razor would favor this: that going into the latest round of Ukraine/Russia “negotiations”, Trump wanted to fire a threatening shot across Zelenskyy’s bow (and have Putin amp up the pressure), but didn’t want to step into that sh*tpile that got him in such trouble before. So he has air defense support suspended, has Hegseth take any blame, and comes out less than a week later saying “Ukrainian aid will be restarted”…sometime in the future. Meanwhile Vlad unleashes the biggest air attack of the war (and Trump acts mad, oh so mad, at Putin - but not mad enough to do anything about it).

Now I hear the finger is being pointed at a Hegseth underling. *Really?*

When Trump is asked point-blank on camera who made the decision, he replies “I don’t know” (?!) (and “Why don’t you tell me?”, like a petulant kid saying “I know you are, but what am I?”)

I think the chance that Trump doesn’t know is near zero, and if Hegseth (or his flunky) *actually* did this on his own behind Trump’s back (unthinkable with these ass-kissers), Trump would be livid.

To me at least, it all looks like a show. But then, I don’t believe anything that comes out of the mouth of Trump or his administration, unless it’s from insiders who must remain anonymous to speak frankly.

[AllGold]

I think you ascribe far too much intelligence and strategy to tRump. I could possibly see someone else in the administration cooking up that kind of slight of hand, but not tRump himself. Heck, tRump didn't even know that his own BBB cut Medicaid.