President Donald Trump is downplaying the idea of cutting off intelligence-sharing with Ukraine, telling reporters yesterday that the US is still sharing intelligence and that “we help them” — while emphasizing that his goal is to see an end to Russia’s years-long war on the country.
But the idea is actively being discussed inside the White House, one Trump administration official told Semafor. And notably, there’s not yet consensus on what to do: CIA Director John Ratcliffe is said to be opposed to the idea.
“Trump is pretty pissed off. He could order it,” the administration official said, suggesting that Trump should end its intelligence sharing specifically for targets inside Russia instead.
Last year, Trump briefly suspended intelligence sharing with Ukraine after a tense Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said recently that Kyiv had received no intelligence from partners on a Russian missile attack.
— Shelby Talcott