President Donald Trump ordered a hold on nearly $400 million in military aid for Ukraine about a week before a controversial July phone call in which he reportedly pushed the Ukrainian president to investigate former vice president Joe Biden and his son, The Washington Post is reporting.
The newspaper, in a story posted Monday night, attributed the information to three senior administration officials. It said Trump had told acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney to hold back the military aid.
The order was relayed to the State Department and the Pentagon in mid-July, according to the Post. Officials were told the president had "concerns" about whether the money needed to be spent. Administration officials were told to inform lawmakers the delays were part of an "interagency process."
The funding for the military aid was eventually released on the night of Sept. 11.
But the newspaper noted Trump's order to withhold aid to Ukraine about a week before his July 25 call to Volodymyr Zelensky is likely to raise more questions about the president's conversation with the Ukrainian leader.
"I don't think it really matters … whether the president explicitly told the Ukrainians that they wouldn't get their security aid if they didn't interfere in the 2020 elections," said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn.
"There is an implicit threat in every demand that a United States president makes of a foreign power."
Trump said Monday he did not pressure Zelensky to launch a corruption probe into Biden and his son in return for military aid.
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