Trump Goes All-In On Ukraine Support: President Donald Trump’s attitude toward the Ukraine war appears to be changing, with Reuters reporting this week that he will use presidential powers previously used by President Joe Biden to send new arms shipments to Ukraine.
Trump Makes a Big Call on the Ukraine War
According to the report, which cited two unnamed sources familiar with the decision, the president intends to provide Ukraine with defensive weapons like Patriot missile systems.
The president has reportedly instructed his team to identify arms within U.S. stockpiles that can be sent to Ukraine using the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA). One source also told the outlet that the weapons headed to Ukraine are worth roughly $300 million.
The decision would mark the first time the Trump administration approves the delivery of new weapons shipments.
Until now, the president had only allowed weapons previously authorized by former President Biden to be shipped to Ukraine.
What Is the Presidential Drawdown Authority?
The Presidential Drawdown Authority is a power granted to the President of the United States under Section 506 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. § 2318).
The authority allows the president to transfer defense services and assets from U.S. military stockpiles to foreign governments or organizations without approval from Congress.
Crucially, the president is only granted the authority to send U.S. military hardware or ammo overseas in the event of an “unforeseen emergency.”
The standard yearly cap for PDA is $100 million. However, Congress has the authority to increase the limit. A fact sheet published by the Department of State on January 20, 2025, describes how Congress has progressively increased the cap on the authority from $100 million to $11 billion for Fiscal Year 2022, suggesting the president – in theory – could transfer enormous quantities of hardware and ammunition to Ukraine.
“In support of this effort, Congress has progressively increased the cap on this drawdown authority from $100 million to $11 billion for Fiscal Year 2022, most recently in the Additional Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2022 (P.L. 117-128), which was signed into law by the President on May 21. Since August 2022, the Administration has utilized this Presidential Drawdown Authority 55 times to provide military assistance to Ukraine,” the fact sheet explains.
According to Reuters, the United States can still send $3.86 billion worth of military equipment, ammunition, and other forms of assistance.
Trump has made it clear on multiple occasions, however, that he is so far only interested in sending defensive weapons to Ukraine – and that he would only send equipment that isn’t deemed crucial for the United States’ security.
About the Author:
Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society. His latest book is The Truth Teller: RFK Jr. and the Case for a Post-Partisan Presidency.
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July 11, 2025 at 3:59 pm
Oldie trump changed his mind.
Not really a big worry. Just the bear changing his coat color due to the seasons.
Right now, in 2025, today, is the magic moment to take a very truly decisive step or measure.
What the pheckin’ thing that.
That decisive step or move is to whammo the airfields, airbases and airports and airway runways of Ukraine with tactical nukes or iskander nukes.
That will cause a full cessation of fighting in eastern ukraine (donbass),by forcing the nazis to move westward across the dniper.
But of course, that could well result in loud bellowing really big loud ones from trump, macron, starmer, merz and zelenskyy.
Not to worry.Tell or ask them if they wanna fight with xi jinping. To ease the pain of finally losing the ukros war.
Moscow can help by nuking Taipei.
That will allow trump and Rubio and hegseth and henchmen to go all out and grab Taiwan and own it until forever days or until arrival of judgement day.