Donald Trump Jr has accused the Biden administration of trying to start World War 3 before his father takes office in January after the US supplied Ukraine with long-range missiles to hit targets inside Russia.
Despite months of pleading from Volodymyr Zelensky, President Biden had been reluctant to risk escalating the conflict by allowing the US-supplied ATACMS missiles to be used outside Ukraine. But reports of a major policy reversal emerged over the weekend, with just two months until President-elect Trump takes office after pledging to end the conflict as soon as possible.
Trump’s oldest son, Donald Trump Jr, posted on X after the decision was announced on Sunday, November 17, slamming the “military industrial complex” for “making sure they get World War 3 going before my father as a chance to create peace and save lives”. He also dubbed the outgoing Democrat administration “imbeciles”.
David Sacks, a tech millionaire who donated thousands to Trump’s campaign, also said Biden’s order would “massively escalate” the conflict which the President-elect had “a clear mandate to end” after his decisive win in November.
Sacks, who co-hosts the All-In podcast, covering economic, political and social issues, questioned whether Biden’s goal was to “hand Trump the worst situation possible”.
The Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles are likely to be used in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops are making gains on Russian territory and which Vladimir Putin has recruited troops from North Korea to protect.
Ukraine is planning to conduct the first of these long-range attacks in just a few days using rockets with a range of 190 miles, MailOnline reports.
Zelensky previously argued that a ban on the use of US-supplied missiles against targets in Kursk had forced him to fight with his hands tied because he couldn’t hit the bases used by Putin to launch air attacks in Ukraine.
While the White House has not officially confirmed the reports, sources say the decision will “send a message” to North Korea’s deployment of over 10,000 soldiers to eastern Russia to train for combat operations.
Republican chair of the House Intelligence Committee Mike Turner, said in a statement that the move was “long overdue”. He wrote on X: “President Biden continues to impose restrictions on Ukraine that prevent Ukrainians from defending themselves and prevent this conflict from ending.
“This first step will put pressure on Vladimir Putin as President-elect Trump returns to the White House and works to end this war.”
During his campaign, Trump repeatedly said he would quickly end the war but did not provide details about how he would accomplish it.
Keir Starmer has previously said the UK could similarly give Ukraine the green light to use long-range Storm Shadow missiles to target Russian troops.
While the Prime Minister has not yet commented on the decision, Starmer told reports travelling with him to the G20 summit of world leaders in Brazil that the west needed to “double down” on support for the wartorn region.
