Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth briefly — and mistakenly — halted a military aid shipment to Ukraine during President Trump’s first weeks in office without getting final approval, a source familiar with the situation told The Post.
Hegseth’s verbal order, first reported Tuesday by Reuters, stopped 11 US military cargo planes from shipping artillery shells and munitions to the war-torn eastern European country and followed a Jan. 30 Oval Office meeting involving top national security officials — including Hegseth — and the president.
Holding up the assistance for Kyiv had been discussed at that meeting, but Trump did not give any instruction to that effect.
The source familiar with the incident described it as a “misunderstanding of the president’s orders” by Hegseth, forcing other administration officials to “cover” for the Pentagon chief and hastily renew the $2.2 million in aid shipments.
Ukrainian and Polish officials reportedly were spooked after US Transportation Command, or TRANSCOM, grounded the flights and had begun asking questions by Feb. 2 — not knowing whether the pause would be permanent.
The flights to Qatar from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, with Ukraine as their final destination, were back in the air by Feb. 5.
A Pentagon spokesperson directed The Post to the White House for comment.
“Negotiating an end to the Russia-Ukraine War has been a complex and fluid situation. We are not going to detail every conversation among top administration officials throughout the process,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Reuters in a statement. “The bottom line is the war is much closer to an end today than it was when President Trump took office.”
A TRANSCOM spokesperson told Reuters that the flight halt order came from the Pentagon’s Joint Staff, but records reviewed by the wire service indicated the command originated from Hegseth’s office.
Though the 11 flights were initially canceled, the TRANSCOM rep noted that one incurred no charge, meaning the debacle cost US taxpayers $1.6 million in total.
Trump later paused military aid to Ukraine March 4 following a Feb. 28 argument with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office as the administration was hoping to ink a joint rare-earth mineral deal.
Zelensky had wanted to discuss future “security guarantees” before delving into the details of the proposal, prompting Vice President JD Vance and eventually Trump to lash out.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe subsequently announced that the US had stopped intelligence sharing with Kyiv.
Both forms of assistance have since been resumed — and the Trump administration and Ukraine’s government finally signed the minerals agreement April 30.
The deal arranged a joint fund, with the profits split 50/50, to help with reconstruction of Ukraine and investment in the nation’s oil and gas industries in addition to minerals.
The US will be able to earn credit toward any investments based on the dollar value of military equipment, technology or training that it ships to Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed a three-day cease-fire to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe starting May 8.
Talks to wind down the more-than-three-year war have languished in recent weeks, with the US State Department demanding both sides need to bring “concrete ideas” forward soon.
The US will no longer “fly around the world at the drop of a hat to mediate meetings,” State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said last week.
“Now is the time that they need to present and develop concrete ideas about how this conflict is going to end. It’s going to be up to them.”
