Trump says the U.S. will give license to Ukraine to produce Patriot defense systems

[dalton99a]

https://apnews.com/article/nato-trump-iran-ukraine-turkey-d393e8ef6103e32c984c4337a82930b1

Trump says the U.S. will give license to Ukraine to produce Patriot defense systems
By LORNE COOK, SEUNG MIN KIM and SUZAN FRASER
Updated 9:58 AM CDT, July 8, 2026

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the U.S. will give a license to Ukraine to manufacture Patriot air defense systems to help counter Russian missile attacks, a huge coup for Ukraine which has badly needed the technology for the war now in its fifth year.

“We’ll give them the right to make Patriots. We’ll show them how to do it,” Trump said as he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a NATO summit in Turkey. “I think they can produce them pretty quickly.”

Patriots are expensive, in high demand and take a long time to produce. Zelenskyy has for years been asking for more of them, and more recently for a license so that Ukraine can manufacture its own.

The tone of Trump’s meeting with the Ukrainian leader was a break from earlier encounters which ended in acrimony, and Trump praised Zelenskyy’s willingness to reach a deal on ending the fighting in Ukraine.

He said the Ukrainian president has “done an amazing job” and “been very effective” in the war.

“We’ve actually developed a good relationship. It’s hard to believe,” Trump said, adding he believed a deal on ending the war was on the horizon and that the U.S. would “work on some kind of security package” to provide to Ukraine.

....

[mdbl]

1. Gee thanks, after half our cities have been destroyed

and our people killed. I guess better late than never.

[moonscape]

4. Good luck trusting the orange menace

[dalton99a]

6. +1. Do it ASAP before he changes his mind

[some_of_us_are_sane]

2. If it's a SALE ...and "MONEY" is involved...

the greedy bastard will find some way for him and his sons to make some cash out of this.

He's a charlatan and a MASTER GRIFTER.

[Resistance1]

3. What does trump want in return?

He is 100% transactional and quid pro quo. Additionally he wants to appear to be in the side of the winner now that Putin is getting his ass handed to him thanks to Ukraine drone technology. He has no goodness in his heart to just do the right thing.

[littlemissmartypants]

5. Trump says... the two most useless words in history.

People still do not get it. Trump saying today that Ukraine will get a license to build Patriot missiles means that Ukraine will get no new Patriots for years. It means Russia can attack Ukraine until 2028 (at the earliest) and Ukraine will get no new interceptors.

— Phillips OBrien (@phillipspobrien.bsky.social) 2026-07-08T14:06:31.380Z

[Autumn]

7. Are we sure what he meant? Trump was confused every time he opened his mouth and what he means is

the US will give a license to Russia to manufacture Patriot air defense systems to help counter the Ukraine's missile attacks? He's been confused as fuck since he's been opening his mouth there. he even called president Zelensky president Putin. He's an embarrassment and he might as well be brain dead for all the sense he makes.

[dalton99a]

8. +1

[Torchlight]

9. I'll assume he's lying. Again

No good reason to presume any of the GOP tell the truth about anything anymore (except chum to feed sea-lions)

[lame54]

10. Not the Onion's funniest gag

[harumph]

11. A license to produce does not equate to the ability to do so.

It's all about the supply chain.