Former National Security Council Chief of Staff Fred Fleitz said on Newsmax on Saturday that the recent confusion over the pause in U.S. weapons shipments to Ukraine highlights the critical need for an empowered National Security Council to mediate between the Pentagon and State Department.
Fleitz, who served in the first Trump administration and previously as a CIA analyst, made the comments during an appearance on “Saturday Report,” pointing out that an apparent disconnect between the Pentagon, the State Department and the White House revealed systemic weaknesses in national security coordination.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth canceled 11 planes delivering weapons to Ukraine, including artillery and shells. Trump was unaware of Hegseth’s involvement, with TRANSCOM records noting only a verbal order from “SECDEF” halting aid flights until Feb. 5, a decision made without input from either the State Department or the White House.
According to Fleitz, President Trump himself was unaware of this decision until after it was publicly disclosed.
“There’s some confusion about this so-called temporary pause of American weapons to Ukraine,” Fleitz said. “It was announced by the Pentagon with no input from the State Department, and the White House was blindsided.”
Fleitz confirmed that after discussing the matter with current Trump administration officials, the president has reportedly decided to roll back at least part of the Pentagon’s pause. He stressed that despite Trump’s well-known concerns over American weapons shipments to Ukraine, “this is not the time to cut them off.”
“What this shows is that we need a National Security Council and a national security adviser to mediate differences between State [Department] and DOD,” Fleitz stated. “So DOD doesn’t do things unilaterally without talking with other U.S. government agencies.”
His comments came after President Trump’s recent Independence Day phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a conversation Zelenskyy described as “important and fruitful.” Fleitz’s insights underscore ongoing policy tensions amid Russia’s continued aggression in Ukraine, highlighted by recent deadly strikes on Kyiv.
Fleitz further explained that the role of the national security adviser should be to act as an “honest broker” within the administration, mediating differences between competing agencies to prevent unilateral actions and policy confusion.
“I was in the government for a long time. The various agencies have to have a shot to debate and weigh in on issues like this,” he explained. He added that Russia’s ongoing aggression and disrespect toward Trump’s diplomatic efforts indicate the need for stronger, unified responses from Washington.
“Concerning what’s going on in Ukraine, Putin is just disrespecting President Trump,” Fleitz said. “Trump’s put his whole national security team on the field to work on this, and Putin is preparing for a new offensive this summer. It’s outrageous.”
Fleitz predicted that due to Russia’s lack of good faith, Trump may soon abandon peace talks in favor of tougher sanctions on Russia.
“I think Trump’s going to soon pull the plug on his peace talks and put pretty tough sanctions on Russia,” Fleitz concluded.
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