‘We have to be a little bit careful of who we license to,’ the U.S. president said.
By Catholics for Catholics
He’s not sure.
President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he has not made a decision whether he would permit Ukraine to manufacture Patriot missiles while it is at war with Russia.
Trump said as he spoke to the Financial Times he was “not sure” about conferring Kyiv a license to create missile systems and was still looking into the matter.
“It’s a very extraordinary weapon, and … we have to be a little bit careful of who we license it to. We don’t really license equipment,” Trump said, according to a story by the Epoch Times.
Trump made the comments after he had a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House and discussed the war as well as the missile systems.
Zelenskyy wrote in a post on X that he had a “good meeting with” Trump at the Oval Office and that both discussed “licenses for Patriot interceptor production and several other ideas that could help.”
President Trump said that the United States has not agreed to Ukraine building Patriot missiles but that talks are ongoing, adding that the US must be 'very careful about letting somebody build them' https://t.co/EoFTSuoM6I pic.twitter.com/Ba1wavxM7S
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 31, 2026
“We also spoke about diplomacy—it’s important that the diplomatic process be reinvigorated. Our teams will arrange the details of their further communication,” Zelenskyy added. “I am grateful to the United States for its firm support.”
Patriot missiles have a key role in Ukraine’s missile-defense systems. Big-time U.S. defense companies like Lockheed Martin and RTX build them.
Trump told the Financial Times that he wants the Ukraine–Russia war to end, which was a key foreign policy promise that he made during his 2024 campaign.
“Very simply put, we want the war in Ukraine with Russia ended,” Trump said. “I’m not looking for missiles. We’re looking for peace.”
Save and Share This Catholic Patriotic Minute!
