US President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting at Camp David in Maryland, on July 31, 2026.<\/p>\n
Aaron Schwartz | AFP | Getty Images<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump<\/a> on Friday said the U.S. “has not agreed” to grant Ukraine licenses to produce Patriot missile systems, apparently backtracking on one of Kyiv’s top priorities in its war against Russia.<\/p>\n The advanced military technology is “a hard thing to give away,” Trump said at a Cabinet meeting, adding that the country that receives it could “someday turn on you.”<\/p>\n “You have to be very careful,” Trump said. He noted that the U.S. and Ukraine are still “talking about it.”<\/p>\n Trump’s latest comments on the war in eastern Europe came three days after he spoke at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy<\/a>, who said the leaders had a “good meeting” about the Patriot licenses.<\/p>\n Trump’s apparent shift also came amid growing concerns that the U.S. is burning through its stockpiles<\/a> of top weaponry, including Patriots<\/a>, as it continues to wage war in Iran.<\/p>\n Less than three weeks earlier, Trump told Zelenskyy directly that the U.S. would grant his wish. “We’re going to give a license to you to make Patriots,” Trump said \u2014 though he added, “we haven’t informed the company of that yet,” possibly referring to defense contractor Lockheed Martin<\/a>.<\/p>\n But on Thursday, Trump told the Financial Times he was “not sure” if he would follow through on letting Kyiv build the “extraordinary weapon.”<\/p>\n Zelenskyy says the Patriot system is crucial to Ukraine’s ability to intercept incoming ballistic missiles from Russia.<\/p>\n The issue “remains a top priority” for Kyiv, he said Friday following a call with Vice President JD Vance<\/a>.<\/p>\n “We agreed that our teams will stay in touch and work through everything discussed today,” Zelenskyy wrote in an X post<\/a>. “I thank the United States for its support of Ukraine and our people.”<\/p>\n