Pentagon officials denied the narrative perpetuated by President Donald Trump that there was a lack of communication between the department and the White House regarding the temporary suspension of military aid to Ukraine.

Hegseth speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon on June 26, 2025. (Andrew Harnik / ) Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary,

Shares in MP Materials (MP) jumped after the company unveiled a partnership with the Defense Department to speed up the buildout of a rare-earth

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.

In some ways, the U.S. vacillation has a bigger impact than the lack of the weapons themselves, the officials said. A single shipment of arms—even one that included dozens of Patriot missiles, hundreds of Hellfires, and thousands of rounds of 155-millimeter artillery—does not make or break Ukraine’s war effort.

What began as a clever cover story quickly became a tangled web of rumors, secrecy, and unexpected consequences.

The paper, which I co-authored with Stephen Semler, found that 54% of the Pentagon’s $4.4 trillion in discretionary spending from 2020 to 2024 went to military contractors. The

Elbridge Colby’s rigid view of foreign policy, and the steps he believes the US must take, are ruffling some feathers in Washington.