In the wake of a televised Oval Office squabble pitting President Trump and Vice President JD Vance against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the U.S. has paused intelligence sharing with its war torn ally, according to CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
Ratcliffe acknowledged the halt in intelligence sharing Wednesday morning during an interview on Fox Business.
Ratcliffe said the pause is “on the military front and the intelligence front,” but he did not elaborate further on the scope of the pause.
Zelenskyy’s Feb. 28 White House visit was intended to be capped by the signing of a landmark agreement granting the U.S. hundreds of billions in potential benefits from mining Ukraine’s minerals agreement. The signing was abruptly scrapped after the meeting descended into finger pointing over Russia and its unprovoked invasion of the country, and whether Zelenskyy had properly thanked the American president.
Zelenskyy had previously repeatedly thanked Mr. Trump and the U.S., and continued to do so afterward. Mr. Trump’s top advisers privately shared disbelief about what they viewed as Zelenskyy’s badgering of the president in front of cameras.
Zelenskyy has since said he’s ready to get back to the negotiating table.
Ratcliffe said in the interview that Mr. Trump made the decision to halt intelligence sharing.
The president “said ‘let’s pause.’ I want to give you a chance to think about that, and you saw the response, that President Zelenskyy put out a statement saying ‘I’m ready for peace, and I want Donald Trump’s leadership to bring about that peace,'” Ratcliffe said.
Ratcliffe later added that the U.S. still intends to work with Ukraine in the ongoing confrontation against Russia.
“We’ll work shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine, as we have to push back on the aggression that’s there,” Ratcliffe said.
Mr. Trump said Tuesday night during his congressional address that he is “working tirelessly to end the savage conflict in Ukraine.”
Intelligence sharing has been crucial for Ukraine in its efforts to strike Russian military targets.
Mr. Trump’s confrontational approach with American allies has drawn withering criticism from Democrats, including Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin, who delivered a response Tuesday to Mr. Trump‘s address.
“President Trump loves to say ‘peace through strength.’ That’s actually a line he stole from Ronald Reagan. But let me tell you, after the spectacle that just took place in the Oval Office last week, Reagan must be rolling in his grave,” Slotkin said, implying the president who led the U.S. through most of the late-Cold War 1980s would be more supportive of Russia’s adversaries than Mr. Trump is.
