Brian Kilmeade Warns Ukraine Intel Cutoff Would Be Worst Move Since Afghanistan

Fox News host Brian Kilmeade said on Wednesday that if the United States has cut off intelligence sharing with Ukraine while Starlink service is restricted, it would be the worst American foreign policy decision since the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Kilmeade is usually a dependable defender of President Donald Trump's foreign policy, so the warning on The Brian Kilmeade Show breaks with the administration. Trump has denied that anything was shut off, and Kilmeade's verdict was conditional. He said he was going on press reports and a source who texted him.

"And if it is that decision, it's the worst foreign policy decision in America since Joe Biden decided to pull out of Afghanistan," Kilmeade said.

What Brian Kilmeade Said About Ukraine

Kilmeade said he first saw the claim on the BBC on his way to work: Ukraine was saying the U.S. had stopped sharing intelligence. Over the previous two days, he said, Russian missiles had been hitting Kyiv without any intelligence warning. "They're hitting apartment buildings and schools," he said.

He did not put all of it on Trump. At the top of the show he described "reports that we shut off intelligence sharing and Elon Musk shut off Starlink," and he later tied the intelligence threat to Trump's envoys: "Why? Cuz evidently, Witkoff and Kushner threatened it in Florida last week and they were in talks."

Later, while speaking with Rich Lowry, he said: "I just have a source text me and says it is true, and the president doesn't look like he knew of it. So I am outraged."

Kilmeade also praised Trump's record. "The president's make some really good foreign policy decisions.

What Is Documented About the Intelligence and Starlink Reports

The record backs part of what Kilmeade said, and part of it is still in dispute. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv got no warning from partners before Russian ballistic missile strikes, and a strike on a nine-story apartment building killed two people and injured 21, ABC News Australia reported.

When asked on Tuesday whether the U.S. had halted intelligence support, Trump said, "No, we haven't," and added, "We are helping them," the Kyiv Post reported. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha also said "we continue this cooperation" and blamed the late alert on the type of missile.

The threat itself has been reported. During talks in Miami, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner warned that Washington could suspend intelligence sharing if Kyiv kept striking Russian energy infrastructure, the Kyiv Post reported.

Starlink is a separate matter. On Tuesday night, Starlink terminals mounted on Ukrainian attack drones began losing connection when moving faster than 100 mph, which disrupted drone missions, UPI reported. Serhii Sternenko, a former Ukrainian defense ministry adviser, told UPI that SpaceX likely acted at the Trump administration's request. Serhiy Beskrestnov, a military adviser to Zelensky, blamed only the "current political situation." On Wednesday, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, whose government pays for Ukraine's Starlink access, wrote on X: "Hey, @elonmusk, big man, are you playing politics with your products again? As your European customers, we are watching you," the Kyiv Post reported.

Earlier U.S. Pauses on Ukraine

The administration has done this before. After Trump's Oval Office clash with Zelensky, the U.S. paused intelligence sharing in March 2025, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe confirmed the pause.

In July 2025, the Pentagon held back some air defense missiles and other weapons in a move that caught the White House off guard, and deliveries resumed within about a week. Kilmeade pointed to that episode on Wednesday, saying "it was a year ago when they cut off weaponry to Ukraine without telling the president."

Rich Lowry Joins the Criticism

Kilmeade was not the only one on his show to say it. Rich Lowry, editor of National Review, said: "If this is happening, it's a total outrage, why are we hippie punching the victim of a war of aggression?"

Lowry went further than Kilmeade and put the blame on the president's own instincts. He said Trump had "flipped back to being anti-Zelensky" and added: "he just has a bee in his bonnet about Ukraine, kind of always has, and may date back to the first impeachment."

Where the Reports Stand

Ukrainian officials still say intelligence is coming in, and Trump says nothing has been cut. No one has confirmed who restricted the drone terminals, or why.

That leaves Kilmeade's "if" open. He raised the question in the opening headlines of the show's third hour: "are we abandoning Ukraine? It's time to sober up and remember who the good guys are."