In another strategic win for Vladimir Putin‘s Russia—sometime in early September—Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth‘s Pentagon abruptly abandoned a near-completed deal to sell Patriot missiles to U.S. ally Denmark. As Vivian Salama wrote for The Atlantic, sources cited an “America” “First” need to replenish the United States’ stockpile.
The first clue that something had changed in the U.S. approach to selling military equipment to Europe came as Denmark neared a decision on the purchase of a multibillion-dollar air-defense system. For weeks, American and French negotiators had aggressively pursued the deal. But as the deadline approached, the Pentagon suddenly lost interest. Then, on a call earlier this month with the State Department, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby said that he didn’t believe in the value of certain foreign military sales, according to two administration officials with knowledge of the discussion. He added that he didn’t like the idea of selling Patriots—which can intercept incoming missiles—to Denmark, because they are in short supply and should be reserved for the United States to use as needed.
According to a Ukraine-focused story from July in military publication The War Zone, though, stated “need” to “replenish” is at best overstated—and Trump’s own officials pushed opposing narratives.
The Pentagon is pushing back on a published report claiming that the U.S. only has about 25% of the Patriot interceptors it needs. The comments follow the Defense Department’s reported temporary pause in the delivery of interceptors and other weapons to Ukraine over concerns about U.S. supplies. Meanwhile, officials in Kyiv are pleading for new interceptors because they are getting pummeled by Russian airstrikes.
Trump’s time on The Apprentice painted (“mythologized” is the better term) him as “dealmaker,” and he complains constantly about how countries don’t “pay their fair share” to NATO and that nobody other than him makes “good deals.” So for his associates to unilaterally cancel a large-military contract that would have helped American companies’ bottom lines is a contradiction of which we should take note.
AUTHOR FOOTNOTE
Donald’s latest gift to Vlad (canceling a military contract to Putin’s perceived nemesis) is along the same lines as the MAGA cult leader and Marco Rubio‘s clumsy dismantling of USAID: military support is also a proven way to bolster relations with foreign allies… and it went POOF in Trump’s holy war on American institutions. Scandalous on its own, to be sure, but the absurdity and conflicting messaging surrounding their reasoning says it all.
Furthermore, the most under-reported story of 2025 has to be Putin’s repeated encroachment on, and scrapes with, U.S. allies (at least, who used to be our allies until Donny inexplicably got back in) like Poland and, yes, Denmark. As CBS News reported (presumably risking the ire of new-fascist overlords in Dave Ellison‘s Skydance), Russian drones buzzed multiple airports in Denmark causing all sorts of mayhem—also affecting a neighboring country.
A number of incursions by unidentified drones across Denmark that caused the temporary shutdown of two airports and affected military installations were part of a “hybrid attack,” the country’s defense minister said Thursday. Police in neighboring Norway, meanwhile, said they had seized a drone near Oslo’s airport, the AFP news agency reported, and police said more drone activity was reported in Denmark later on Thursday, according to local media.
Poland, Estonia and Romania have also been targets of Russia’s drone-based wargames, according to CNN.
With Donald in-the-tank for Putin—based on words, deeds and posts to socials—suddenly scrapping a huge military contract to Denmark should be seen as a prong of the same Putin operation to terrorize Europe.
