Trump described the advanced technology as “a hard thing to give away” during a Cabinet meeting at Camp David. He said a recipient country could “someday turn on you.”
“You have to be very careful,” Trump said. He added that Washington and Kyiv were still “talking about it.”
The comments appeared to reverse a commitment Trump made to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy less than three weeks earlier. “We’re going to give a license to you to make Patriots,” Trump said at the NATO Summit.
Trump added at the time that “we haven’t informed the company of that yet.” CNBC said the remark may have referred to Lockheed Martin or RTX, which manufacture components of the Patriot system.
Trump told the Financial Times on Thursday that he was “not sure” whether he would approve production in Ukraine. His latest comments followed a White House meeting with Zelenskyy three days earlier.
Zelenskyy described the talks as a “good meeting” that included the proposed Patriot licenses. Ukraine views the system as central to intercepting incoming Russian ballistic missiles.
The policy debate comes amid concerns over U.S. inventories of advanced weapons, including Patriot systems. American air defenses are also being used to intercept Iranian missiles during the continuing conflict, CNBC reported.
Even with U.S. approval, establishing Patriot production in Ukraine could take years. The system is expensive, technologically complex and dependent on an extensive industrial supply chain.
Zelenskyy said the issue “remains a top priority” following a call with Vice President JD Vance. “We agreed that our teams will stay in touch and work through everything discussed today,” he wrote on X.
“I thank the United States for its support of Ukraine and our people,” Zelenskyy said. Ukraine’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
Zelenskyy later met Lockheed Martin representatives to discuss “our joint capabilities related to Patriots and other systems.” He said both sides were examining potential production arrangements.
“Our teams are already working on specific solutions to move to co-production as quickly as possible and increase our capabilities to protect lives,” Zelenskyy said. No licensing or co-production agreement has been announced.
