Putin convinced Trump to withhold Tomahawks; Witkoff in hot water over phone leaks

Citing unnamed U.S. officials, The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump made the final determination to refuse the transfer of Tomahawks to Ukraine after a phone call with Putin on Oct. 16. The call took place one day before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's White House visit, where he hoped to secure access to the long-range missiles.

Putin’s envoy Kirill Dmitriev, Witkoff’s primary contact in Russia, claimed the transcripts of his conversations with Witkoff published by Bloomberg were fake. He further alleged that “warmongering” Western media are running a disinformation campaign to derail the U.S. push for peace (although the initial draft of the U.S.-backed peace plan amounts to demanding Ukraine’s capitulation on Moscow’s terms).

Witkoff’s apparent efforts to align U.S. policy even closer with Russian interests have led some GOP politicians to call for his removal. Rep. Don Bacon (NE-2) said that “Witkoff fully favors the Russians” and therefore should be removed from the negotiation process. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-1) similarly urged the White House to “allow Secretary of State Marco Rubio to do his job in a fair and objective manner,” without parallel interference from Witkoff.