President Donald Trump added another chapter to his ongoing feud with the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, blasting the paper for a “FAKE NEWS” report that the Trump Administration lifted “a key restriction” on Ukraine, allowing it to use long-range missiles against Russia.
The president’s denial came less than 90 minutes after the WSJ’s report was published.
“The Wall Street Journal story on the U.S.A.’s approval of Ukraine being allowed to use long range missiles deep into Russia is FAKE NEWS!” Trump posted on Truth Social. “The U.S. has nothing to do with those missiles, wherever they may come from, or what Ukraine does with them!”
WSJ reported the green light from Trump would allow Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to “step up attacks on targets inside Russia” and put added pressure on Russian dictator Vladimir Putin to end the war. The missiles, the WSJ reported, were given to Ukraine by its “Western allies.”
Here is some more detail from the report:
The unannounced
U.S. move to enable Kyiv to use the missile in Russia comes after authority for supporting such attacks was recently transferred from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon to the top U.S. general in Europe, Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, who also serves as NATO commander.
Trump suggested earlier this month he would give Ukraine Tomahawk missiles, capable of striking targets more than 1,000 miles away, to bolster its chances against Russia. He has since walked back from that idea, and Trump, according to the Financial Times, got into a”shouting match” with Zelensky about the war on Oct. 17.
The report said Trump pressured Zelensky to accept Putin’s terms for ending the war, because Russia will “destroy” Ukraine.
Trump’s sharp rebuke of the WSJ report comes as he is suing the outlet for $10 billion over a report he sent a “bawdy” letter to sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein in 2003. The president has denied the report, saying those are “not my words” in the letter.