Donald Trump may give Ukraine Patriot weapons, Putin talking ‘bullsh-t’

The White House is hoping to send Ukraine more weapons including a Patriot air missile defence system as Putin’s intransigence frustrates Trump.

Donald Trump with Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth during a cabinet meeting at the White House. Picture: AP /Evan Vucci

President Trump is considering sending an additional Patriot air-defence system to Ukraine after vowing in recent days to strengthen Kyiv against Russian attacks, according to two officials.

Trump lashed out at Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, saying “we get a lot of bulls**t thrown at us by Putin.”

“He’s very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless,” Trump said.

He reiterated that he was “very unhappy” with Putin since their phone call last week made no progress on the Ukraine peace deal that the US president has pushed for since returning to power.

But the administration hasn’t disclosed what additional weapons it is planning to provide Ukraine in response to Putin’s rebuff of Trump’s calls to halt the three-year-old conflict.

Sending another Patriot would be a significant step for the White House, marking the first time Trump has approved providing a major weapons system to Kyiv beyond the number authorised by the Biden White House.

The White House has asked the Pentagon for options for sending Ukraine additional weapons, including a Patriot system, one of the officials said. Officials are also exploring if other countries can provide more Patriots to Kyiv, the official said.

The deliberations about providing additional defensive weapons are another twist in a back-and-forth series of moves by the administration over military aid to Kyiv in recent weeks. Trump came into office sceptical of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and had a fiery Oval Office meeting with him in February, while saying he believed Putin would “keep his word” on negotiations to end the war.

A woman stands among debris next to a recruitment centre building damaged after a drone attack in Kharkiv on July 7, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by SERGEY BOBOK / AFP)

Ukraine currently has only a handful of Patriot systems, donated by the U.S. and other countries, and has been seeking more to fend off escalating Russian attacks. Each Patriot consists of two or sometimes three launchers, a radar, a command and control element and interceptor missiles.

The U.S.-made systems are in high demand worldwide and were used to defend Al Udeid air base from an Iranian missile barrage last month. The Army could come up with one for Ukraine, if ordered, according to one of the officials.

There are questions about how many interceptors the U.S. and its partners would be willing to contribute, however. The wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have strained supplies, sending the U.S. scrambling to replenish its stockpile.

The U.S. has provided Kyiv with three Patriot systems, Germany sent another three, and a consortium of European countries sent one, according to a former Pentagon official, but not all are up and running at the same time due to maintenance issues.

Trump told reporters at White House meeting Tuesday with his cabinet that Putin can be “very nice,” but what he says and does “turns out to be meaningless.” Administration officials said last week that the Pentagon had halted an arms shipment for Ukraine that included antimissile interceptors fired by the Patriot system. It also included AIM-120 anti-aircraft missiles, howitzer rounds, AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, GMLRS missiles to arm Himars rocket launchers, Stinger surface-to-air missiles, and grenade launchers.

Trump said Monday the U.S. would resume providing arms. When asked who in the administration initially paused the shipment, Trump said he didn’t know.

He added that he was looking into a bill that would place sanctions or tariffs on countries that assist Russia’s invasion, a measure led by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R, S.C.), a close Trump ally, and backed by more than 80 senators.

However, a person familiar with Trump’s thinking said the bill currently doesn’t provide Trump with enough flexibility, adding the White House is working with lawmakers to ensure the legislation furthers his efforts to end the war.

Trump has voiced more concern about Ukraine’s defensive needs in recent weeks as it faces an onslaught of Russian missile and drone attacks. He has also praised Ukrainian troops for their fight against the Russian invasion. “The Ukrainians, whether you think it is unfair that we gave all that money or not, they were very brave,” he said.

Last Thursday, Trump urged Putin to end the war during an hour-long call, only for Putin to reject the overture. Trump told reporters he wasn’t happy with the conversation and was disappointed in his Russian counterpart. A call the next day with Zelensky went better after Trump explained he didn’t order the pause in some weapons shipments to Kyiv, which had caught some parts of the U.S. government off-guard.

A Patriot Air and Missile Defence launcher fires an interceptor during a test. Picture: Raytheon

Now Trump is poised to send more weapons to Ukraine, telling reporters Monday that Ukraine must have the capabilities to defend itself. “Defensive weapons, primarily, but they are getting hit very, very hard. So many people are dying in that mess,” Trump said.

There are also indications Trump will support ramping up economic pressure on Russia as its wartime economy buckles under the weight of international sanctions.

“Putin sees no reason to stop the war, because the U.S. hasn’t taken action to force him to change his calculus. The only way to do that is to impose tough costs, economic and military, on Russia,” said Alina Polyakova, president and CEO of the Center for European Policy Analysis in Washington.

Dow Jones