There was an awkward moment between President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth this week regarding the status of shipments of weapons to Ukraine -- something that the Trump administration promised to tamp down on.

According to the Daily Mail, President Trump presumably caught Hegseth off guard as he suddenly announced that weapons would "have to" be sent to Ukraine once again after Hegseth was credited with stopping the shipments just last week.

The surprise announcement -- and awkward moment -- came as President Trump met with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu along with several high-profile members of his security team at the White House earlier this week.

Several of the members of the security team glanced over at the president, including Hegseth, when he insisted that Ukraine would once again be receiving weapons shipments.

What happened?

The situation became even more awkward when a reporter quizzed Trump about why the weapons shipments to Ukraine were paused in the first place. The president said he was unaware of who would have ordered the halt on weapons shipments.

"I don't know, why don’t you tell me?" Trump said when asked who halted the shipments.

The Daily Mail noted:

It came just hours after the White House defended what it called a 'standard pause' to review the state of U.S. stockpiles, even admit Russia's relentless and ongoing attacks.

Trump explained to the reporters why he felt the need for the United States to resume sending weapons shipments just a week after the shipments were paused, as was one of the campaign promises.

"We're going to send some more weapons. We have to. They have to be able to defend themselves," said Trump.

The president added, "They're getting hit very hard. Now, they're getting hit very hard. We're going to have to send more weapons, your defensive weapons, primarily, but they're getting hit very, very hard. So many people are dying in that mess."

Lack of communication?

Reports indicated that Hegseth had reportedly not told the White House that he authorized stopping weapons shipments to Ukraine.

CNN: Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth did not inform the White House before he authorized a pause on weapons shipments to Ukraine last week, according to five sources familiar with the matter. pic.twitter.com/0dbqGBD1xQ

— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) July 9, 2025

"Seems like Pete would have been fired for such a move if that were the case," one X user wrote.

Another X user wrote, "SecDef has every right to review any draw down of US stock piles."