The Trump administration halted U.S. military support to Ukraine following Donald Trump and JD Vance’s petulant outbursts at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week over what they said was the Ukrainian leader’s lack of gratitude. 

For many who have observed Trump’s fondness for Russian President Vladimir Putin over the years, the move can be seen as the latest, and perhaps most glaring, signal that Team Trump is working to shift the United States’ loyalties away from democracies and toward dictators and illiberal nations.

To support giving Ukraine the cold shoulder, the Trump administration is making some dubious claims. Earlier this week, Vance trotted out an excuse for shutting down arms transfers to Ukraine that was startling in its ignorance. In a post to X, Vance suggested those who support what he classified as “permanent arms shipments to Ukraine” have also supported what he termed the “de-industrialization of America.” 

“The very things you want us to send are things we don’t make enough of,” he claimed. 

Vance’s post might give you the false impression that support for Ukraine is linked to some sort of decline in American manufacturing — and that couldn’t be farther from the truth. It’s a point that investigative journalist Michael Weiss noted, citing data from conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute that shows that the overwhelming majority of U.S. aid to Ukraine is actually spent paying U.S. manufacturers. Aiding Ukraine’s defense hasn’t de-industrialized the U.S., it’s had the exact opposite effect, Weiss explained. 

“Arming Ukraine has re-industrialised America as the bulk of our spending has gone to opening factories and hiring workers to build weapons and ammunition and to otherwise revitalising America’s own military,” he wrote on X. 

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Fiona Hill, the former Trump White House adviser who testified at Trump’s first impeachment in his first term, previously explained how aid to Ukraine boosted the American economy back in 2023: 

We are providing weapons to Ukraine, we’re buying them from major manufacturers of defense systems here in the United States, which are obviously providing jobs for the people who are making them. And then we’re going back and we’re ordering more because we’re replenishing and upgrading our own weapons stocks. This is all part of our own system. These defense manufacturers account for huge numbers of jobs across the whole of the United States, so arming Ukraine means significant job creation and retention across the United States and also in Europe and elsewhere.

So aiding Ukraine does not “de-industrialize” the U.S. or hamper its manufacturing. You would think that, as vice president, Vance would know this (or at least, he should). It’s possible you’ve heard similar arguments in conversations with people who may think supporting Ukraine against Russia’s invasion is wasteful. (After all, Republicans have helped spread this propaganda for years.)

But to suggest to Americans who don’t know better that U.S. investment in Ukraine is a boondoggle for American taxpayers seems part of an effort to provide the Trump administration with cover as it abandons Ukraine completely.