NATO To Foot Bill For Missile Shipments To Ukraine

President Donald Trump told NBC News in a Thursday night interview that NATO will foot the bill for U.S.-supplied Patriot missile shipments to Ukraine.

Trump reached the arrangement with NATO at the summit in The Hague, Netherlands, in June, the president told NBC News. Shipments of the critical interceptor missiles were briefly paused on July 2 pending a review of U.S. stockpiles, a move reportedly orchestrated by the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby, but Trump reversed the pause on Monday.

“We’re sending weapons to NATO, and NATO is paying for those weapons, 100%,” Trump told NBC. “So what we’re doing is the weapons that are going out are going to NATO, and then NATO is going to be giving those weapons , and NATO is paying for those weapons.” (RELATED: Trump To Send Portion Of Key Missile Shipment To Ukraine)

A soldier stands next to PATRIOT (Phased Array Tracking Radar to Intercept on Target) surface-to-air missile systems ahead a military exercise at Warsaw Babice Airport, Poland on February 7, 2023. (Photo by JANEK SKARZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

The initial pause reportedly caught many officials in the State Department and White House by surprise, and Trump initially stood by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth when asked about the pause on Thursday, according to NBC News. Trump said Monday during a