WASHINGTON — A week after President Donald Trump told a distraught Ukrainian journalist that he would try to make crucial anti-missile systems available to her country, his Defense Department on Wednesday confirmed a pause in weapons shipments to Ukraine and blamed Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden.

“For a long time, four years under the Biden administration, we were giving away weapons and munitions without really thinking about how many we have,” Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell told reporters at a rare press briefing.

He called the pause a “review” that applies not just to Ukraine but to all countries — even as the U.S. continues to supply Israel with weapons.

“It’s a capability review that’s being conducted to ensure U.S. military aid aligns with our defense priorities,” Parnell said. “Going forward, we see this as a common-sense, pragmatic step towards having a framework to evaluate what munitions are sent and where.”

Parnell’s assertion that the Pentagon under Biden was sending weapons to places without keeping track is untrue. The chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was required to complete a readiness assessment with each transfer.

“Russia and China couldn’t do a better job of weakening America’s national defense than these unqualified clowns,” said former Biden White House spokesperson Andrew Bates. “The bipartisan support for Ukraine keeps us safe and creates manufacturing jobs across the country, including in a hell of a lot of red states.”

Parnell’s statements came as some congressional Republicans expressed dismay at published reports of Trump’s decision to pause aid amid Russia’s stepped-up attacks against Ukraine’s cities.

“Mr. President, Ukrainian soldiers and pilots are not just protecting their homeland ― they are holding the line for the entire democratic world,” Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick wrote in a Wednesday letter to Trump. “This is a defining moment: Ukraine’s courage must continue to be met with action, and the United States must continue to lead with clarity and purpose.”

Exactly a week ago, at the end of the NATO summit in the Netherlands, Trump told a female reporter from Ukraine, clearly emotional about the daily missile and drone attacks on her country ordered by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, that he would try to help.

“Wow, that’s rough stuff, right? That’s tough,” he said, appearing to empathize with the country’s plight. “I mean, I can see it’s very upsetting to you.”

That response, though, is a new one for Trump, who in the earliest days of Putin’s invasion in 2022 — which even then was targeting and killing civilians ― called it “savvy” and “genius.” He has, at times, blamed Ukraine for getting invaded.

“You don’t start a war against someone 20 times your size and then hope that people give you some missiles,” he said April 15, a day after a Russian barrage killed 35 Ukrainians.

Parnell said that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was carrying out Trump’s goal of “bringing this tragic war to its end.”

In his 25-minute question-and-answer session, Parnell also defended and even went far beyond Trump’s disputed claim that last month’s air strike he ordered against Iran’s nuclear facilities had “obliterated” them.

“We have the most lethal fighting force in the world. And if you need further proof of that, look no further than Operation Midnight Hammer and the total obliteration of Iran’s nuclear ambitions there,” he said, claiming the “very strong psychological toll” on Iran’s leaders has led them to give up all hope of ever acquiring a nuclear weapon.

Parnell did not, however, cite any specific intelligence assessment backing up that assertion.