CNBC |Friday, July 31, 2026 
Trump says U.S. has ‘not agreed to’ grant Ukraine Patriot missile licenses

President Donald Trump 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. 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.” “You have to be very careful,” Trump said. He noted that the U.S. and Ukraine are still “talking about it.” 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, who said the leaders had a “good meeting” about the Patriot licenses. Trump’s apparent shift also came amid growing concerns that the U.S. is burning through its stockpiles of top weaponry, including Patriots, as it continues to wage war in Iran. 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 — though he added, “we haven’t informed the company of that yet,” possibly referring to defense contractors Lockheed Martin or RTX. But on Thursday, Trump told the Financial Times he was “not sure” if he would follow through on letting Kyiv build the “extraordinary weapon.” Ukraine’s U.S. embassy did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on Trump’s latest remarks….Read More