Trump Says It Was ‘Stupid’ for Biden to Let Ukraine Use US Weapons to Strike Deeper into Russia

US President-elect Donald Trump delivers remarks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, US, December 16, 2024. (Reuters)
US President-elect Donald Trump delivers remarks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, US, December 16, 2024. (Reuters)
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Trump Says It Was ‘Stupid’ for Biden to Let Ukraine Use US Weapons to Strike Deeper into Russia

US President-elect Donald Trump delivers remarks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, US, December 16, 2024. (Reuters)
US President-elect Donald Trump delivers remarks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, US, December 16, 2024. (Reuters)

President-elect Donald Trump on Monday suggested that he may reverse President Joe Biden's recent decision to allow Ukrainian forces to use American long-range weapons to strike deeper into Russian territory.

Trump called the decision made by Biden last month "stupid." He also expressed anger that his incoming administration was not consulted before Biden made the move. With the loosening of the restrictions, Biden gave Ukraine long-sought permission to use the Army Tactical Missile System provided by the US to strike Russian positions hundreds miles from its border.

"I don’t think that should have been allowed, not when there’s a possibility — certainly not just weeks before I take over," Trump said during at a wide-ranging news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort. "Why would they do that without asking me what I thought? I wouldn’t have had him do that. I think it was a big mistake."

Trump's withering criticism of the Biden administration's move comes as the Democratic administration aims to push every last dollar already designated for Ukraine out the door to help repel Russia's invasion before Trump takes office on Jan. 20, with future aid uncertain.

But even as Biden tries to surge weaponry and other aid to Ukraine in his final five weeks in office, the moment underscored that it's Trump who holds the most significant influence over how Ukraine can use its US-provided arsenal in the long run. It’s a critical piece of leverage he could use to try to follow through on his campaign pledge to bring about a swift end to the conflict.

Asked if he would consider reversing the Biden administration decision, Trump responded: "I might. I think it was a very stupid thing to do."

The White House pushed back on Trump’s criticism, noting that the decision was made after months of deliberations that started before last month’s election.

"All I can assure you is that in the conversations we’ve had with them since the election, and we’ve had at various levels, we have articulated to them the logic behind it, the thinking behind it, why we were doing it," White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said of the current administration's coordination with the outgoing administration.

Trump's relationship with Russian leader Vladimir Putin has been scrutinized since his 2016 campaign for president, when he called on Russia to find and make public missing emails deleted by Hillary Clinton, his Democratic opponent. Trump publicly sided with Putin over US intelligence officials on whether Russia had interfered in the 2016 election to help him, and Trump has praised the Russian leader and even called him "pretty smart" for invading Ukraine.

Vice President-elect JD Vance has said that while the US has differences with Russia, it was counterproductive to approach Moscow as an enemy.

Trump on Monday reiterated his call on both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate an end to the war, calling the death and despair caused by the conflict "carnage."

But Trump also appeared to acknowledge that finding an immediate endgame to the war — something he has previously said he could get done within 24 hours of taking office — could be difficult.

"I think the Middle East will be in a good place," Trump said, referring to the conflict in Gaza and an unsettled Syria following the ouster of Bashar al-Assad. "I think actually more difficult is going to be the Russia-Ukraine situation."

Trump declined to say whether he has spoken with Putin since the election.

Zelenskyy met with Trump in Paris earlier this month, while the president-elect was visiting France for the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral. Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian officials have been making a forceful effort to get Trump to maintain support for Ukraine.

But the situation on the ground in Ukraine continues to remain complicated as both sides wrestle for a battlefield advantage that will give them leverage in any negotiations to end the nearly three-year war.

The Pentagon last week unveiled US intelligence that predicts Russia could again launch its lethal new intermediate-range ballistic missile against Ukraine soon.

Putin deployed the missile for the first time last month days after Biden loosened the restrictions on Ukraine. Putin warned the West that Russia's next use could be against Ukraine’s NATO allies who allowed Kyiv to use their longer-range missiles to strike inside Russia.

Biden agreed to loosen the restrictions after Zelenskyy and many of his Western supporters had pressed Biden for months. They argued that the US ban had made it impossible for Ukraine to try to stop Russian attacks on its cities and electrical grids.

The outgoing president ultimately made the decision last month amid concerns about Russia deploying thousands of North Korean troops to help it claw back land in the Kursk border region that Ukraine seized this year.



Israel Budget Passes but Vote Shows Cracks in Netanyahu's Coalition

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends his trial on corruption charges at the district court in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (Stoyan Nenov/Pool Photo via AP)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends his trial on corruption charges at the district court in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (Stoyan Nenov/Pool Photo via AP)
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Israel Budget Passes but Vote Shows Cracks in Netanyahu's Coalition

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends his trial on corruption charges at the district court in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (Stoyan Nenov/Pool Photo via AP)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends his trial on corruption charges at the district court in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (Stoyan Nenov/Pool Photo via AP)

Israeli lawmakers narrowly approved the country's 2025 state budget in an initial vote despite a rebellion by one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition partners demanding he fire Israel's attorney general.
The 59-57 vote in the Knesset, or parliament, to pass the wartime austerity budget in its first of three readings underscored divisions within the coalition that heavily relies on ultra-Orthodox and far-right parties, Reuters reported.
Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and his six-seat ultranationalist Otzma Yehudit party voted against the budget, sparking a war of words with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, the head of another right-wing party.
Ben-Gvir has been pushing for the firing of Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara on the grounds that she opposes plans to overhaul Israel's judicial system and supports an independent inquiry into Israel’s handling of the Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border incursion led by Hamas. He has asked for the issue to be raised at cabinet meetings.
Ben-Gvir said on X that his faction would no longer be bound by the coalition's positions, including the budget law, and would operate independently.
Addressing Smotrich, he said the government must fire the attorney general so it can implement its policy. The right-wing government had to either send her home or face having her bring the government down, Ben-Gvir wrote.
A month ago, in a letter to Netanyahu, Baharav-Miara asked the prime minister to consider firing Ben-Gvir, citing evidence that he allegedly interfered directly in police operations and politicized promotions within the force, threatening its status outside politics.
Should the issue be raised at Sunday's cabinet meeting, "the crisis will be behind us," Ben-Gvir added.
In posts on X, Smotrich accused Ben-Gvir of irresponsibly aligning with the opposition and Arab parties and putting their right-wing government in danger in time of war.
Smotrich said Ben-Gvir and his party were jeopardizing a historic opportunity for further Israeli settlement of the occupied West Bank and for the State of Israel itself with Donald Trump's administration moving into the White House next month.
"We will continue to work for the people of Israel and for victory in the war, with or without Ben-Gvir," he wrote.
Netanyahu in September sought to bolster his coalition, which had a 64-56 edge in Knesset, by bringing in opposition lawmaker Gideon Saar and his four seats in the New Hope party, enabling him to be less reliant on other members of his ruling coalition. Saar last month was named foreign minister.
Total budget spending in 2025 will be 756 billion shekels ($210 billion), with a deficit target set at 4.4% of gross domestic product. The budget includes spending cuts and tax increases of 37 billion shekels, which are needed to keep the deficit under control as war costs have soared. Spending on defense will be 108 billion shekels next year.
All three agencies have cut Israel's credit rating this year due to war expenses that have pushed the budget deficit to near 8% of GDP.
The budget next goes to the Knesset finance and other committees, where it could face changes. It is not expected to be fully approved until at least January. Until a budget is approved in 2025, the 2024 budget will be divided into 12 parts and 1/12 is allocated each month.
Failure to approve the budget by March 31 would trigger new elections.