menu_open Columnists
We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

Pete Hegseth Made an Order on Ukraine Trump Knew Nothing About

2 0
06.05.2025

Pete Hegseth canceled military aid flights to Ukraine just a week into Trump’s second term without the president even knowing, according to Reuters.

The ignominious defense secretary called off 11 Ukraine-bound planes carrying artillery, shells, and other weapons. Trump was completely unaware that Hegseth had made the call, as the TRANSCOM records simply show a verbal order from “SECDEF”—the secretary of defense—stopping aid flights to Ukraine until February 5.

The order initially sparked mass confusion within the administration, as national security officials in the White House, the Pentagon, and the State Department couldn’t figure out who ordered the halt in flights.

This is yet another example of the chaos and lack of cohesion that Hegseth has brought to the Pentagon from day one. But the administration is treating the communication failure like business as usual.

“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. “The bottom line is the war is much closer to an end today than it was when President Trump took office.”

The move also aligns with the growing anti–European Union, anti-Ukraine, pro-isolationist views that Hegseth and Vice President JD Vance hold, as evident in their infamous Signalgate group chat messages.

“This is consistent with the administration’s policy to move fast, break things, and sort it out later,” said retired Marine and defense expert Mark Cancian. “That is their managing philosophy.”

This is one of multiple reports on the internal disarray at Hegeth’s Defense Department.

“Abundance for me but not for thee” seems to be Donald Trump’s new motto.

The president’s argument that children should just have fewer dolls rattled the nation last week. Trump’s tariffs proposals—which were discovered and confirmed by the White House to be based on bad math—have sent markets tumbling and pushed the U.S. economy closer toward a recession. The boss of the biggest shipping port in the country told AFP News Agency that American consumers can expect “less choice and higher prices” once current inventory runs out, which he predicted would occur within the next five to seven weeks.

In the face of rising costs and a slowing job market, Trump’s solution is just as simple as it is un-American: Buy less.

“I don’t think a young lady, a 10-year-old girl, 9-year-old girl, 15-year-old girl, doesn’t need 37 dolls. She can be very happy with two or three or four or five,” Trump reiterated to reporters aboard Air Force One Sunday.

But Trump—whose net worth is estimated by Forbes to be $5.1 billion—wouldn’t know the first thing about living a modest lifestyle. His own children have been photographed in the lap of luxury, playing with lavish toys backdropped by the ornate interiors of his New York City penthouse, as the internet was quick to point out.

Some of Barron Trump’s childhood toys included a customized mini Mercedes convertible featuring a “BARRON” license plate, several life-size stuffed animals, and famously, a Louis Vuitton “soot-case” that reportedly now retails for nearly $10,000. They resided in an entire floor of Trump’s apartment, which Barron apparently had all to himself, Melania told Entertainment Tonight in 2010.

Other images of Trump’s brood include photos of Melania holding a baby Barron in front of golden doors, marble floors, and an elaborate pram.

President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office have proved fatal for seven people who were detained by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, as part of the president’s massive deportation efforts.

Of the seven immigrants who have died in ICE custody over the past three months, the agency has only published reports on three of the deaths, which were all reviewed by the Spanish newspaper El Paīs.

According to the outlet, all three individuals arrived in detention in good condition, and saw their health rapidly decline.

Makysm Chernyak, a 44 year-old Ukrainian man, was arrested in January on assault charges and transferred to ICE detention in Miami where he was found to be totally healthy, with the exception of an elevated heart rate. For a week in mid-February he was in and out of the clinic, after reporting nasal congestion and a cough. On February 18, he was found vomiting and trembling in his cell, and while awaiting transfer to the hospital he suffered six seizures, and vomited blood. Doctors shortly discovered he’d had a hemorrhagic stroke and was determined to be brain dead. He was declared dead two days later.

Marie Blaise, a 44 year-old Haitian woman was detained on February 12 in the U.S. Virgin Islands when she tried to board a flight to North Carolina without a valid immigration visa. Another woman detained in Deerfield Beach detention center told the Miami Herald that Blaise began to complain of chest pains on April 25. She was given some pills and told to rest, but hours later she awoke screaming in pain. Later that night she was announced dead, and her cause of death is still under investigation, according to El Paīs.

Last week, Florida Representative Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, the only Haitian American member of Congress, slammed ICE over Blaise’s death. “Marie had been complaining about chest pain for hours,” she said on the House........

© New Republic