The Daily Populous Wednesday July 9th, 2025 evening edition
Authored by newrepublic.com and submitted by thenewrepublic

Donald Trump gracelessly dodged a question Tuesday about weapons shipments to Ukraine, revealing that the commander-in-chief has no idea about what’s going on with his own warchest.

During a Cabinet meeting, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins pressed Trump for details about his recent flip on sending military aid to Ukraine.

“Mr. President, you want to send more weapons to Ukraine, as you said last night. Last week the Pentagon paused some shipments of weapons to Ukraine. Did you approve of that pause?” Collins asked.

“We wanted to put defensive weapons, because Putin is not—he’s not treating human beings right. He’s killing too many people,” Trump said. “So we’re sending some defensive weapons to Ukraine, and I’ve approved that.”

“So who ordered the pause last week?” Collins pressed.

“I don’t know, why don’t you tell me?” Trump said, but he wasn’t asking Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth—he was asking Collins herself.

“I think that’s a question for the Pentagon,” Collins replied, as Trump moved to take another question.

COLLINS: Did you approve of the pause of weapons shipments to Ukraine?

TRUMP: We want to put defensive weapons because Putin is not treating human beings right

COLLINS: So who ordered the pause?

TRUMP: I don't know. Why don't you tell me? pic.twitter.com/N46JsMpBZZ — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 8, 2025

NBC News reported that the decision to pause weapons shipments to Ukraine was a unilateral decision by Hegseth, three congressional aides, and a former U.S. official familiar with the matter. The Trump administration claimed that their munitions stockpiles were running low—despite an analysis by senior military officials that found the levels were not yet critical.

This is the third time Hegseth has single-handedly directed the Pentagon to stop weapons shipments to Ukraine since entering office. For context, this is the same guy who once counseled Kyiv to give up its hopes of reclaiming seized territory from Russia.

In a surprise move, Trump reversed the pause Monday—much to the outrage of his supporters—saying that Ukrainians “have to be able to defend themselves.” On Tuesday, the president sounded jilted when discussing Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying he was “not happy” with his supposed ally.

“We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin, if you wanna know the truth. He’s very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless,” Trump said.

bruceki on July 8th, 2025 at 21:26 UTC »

pam bondi: "the tens of thousands of hours of video footage was child pornography. It will never be released, never see the light of day".

Hum. I agree it's child pornography. I just wonder who the adults are that participated. I suspect that there are people featured in those tapes who would rather none of it gets released.

To claim it's child porn is probably correct. To claim that it is not evidence or could not be used to indict suspects seems very suspect.

pam bondi on the review of thousands of hours of seized eptstein video

ranchoparksteve on July 8th, 2025 at 21:17 UTC »

As much as conservatives have talked about Epstein over the years, they should be eager to clear Trump’s name.

aquagardener on July 8th, 2025 at 21:13 UTC »

They should release all the files. Not just those that include Trump.