AUSTIN, TEXAS: Joe Rogan, a UFC color commentator, and podcast presenter, recently invited Duncan Trussell to appear on his show, 'The Joe Rogan Experience'. The two talked about a range of things, including that the US accidentally showered Ukraine with $6.2 billion.
Rogan and Trusell provided no evidence or figures to corroborate their claim, raising concerns about its veracity. Keep reading to know what else the duo had to say about the excess funds sent to Ukraine.
'$6.2 billion was an accident'
A tweet from YouTuber Jackson Hinkle, viewed 115,000 times since Wednesday, July 19, includes a video from Rogan's 'JRE' podcast in which the host is heard stating that the US "accidentally" sent $6.2 billion to Ukraine. Hinkle's subsequent tweet read: "'The Pentagon accidentally sent $6.2 BILLION to Ukraine! It's wild how they just keep printing money, jacking inflation. We're gonna keep sending them money forever and ever.' - Joe Rogan."
In the video, Rogan can be heard remarking, "They sent an extra... how many billion dollars did they accidentally send?" "Six point two," a voice in the background can be heard saying. Then Rogan says, "$6.2 billion was an accident, they accidentally...yeh six point two more than they were supposed to. So why don't they just send some more?" "You just blew $6 billions of tax money, and it was a mistake?" Trussell subsequently questioned, with Rogan adding, "It's very wild that they just keep printing money. Jacking up the inflation, printing money."
Did the US give $6.2 billion accidentally to Ukraine?
The country has provided defense products to Ukraine since 2021 through the use of the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA), which allows the president to authorize the prompt transfer of articles and services from the US stockpiles up to a financing cap set by law. According to a June 2023 Congressional Research Service report, the Biden administration has authorized 40 drawdowns totaling $22.1 billion since August 2021. This is crucially where Rogan has misinterpreted the facts. The Pentagon stated in June that it had exaggerated the value of weapons shipped to Ukraine by $6.2 billion during the previous two fiscal years allowed through PDA, as per the US Department of Defense press secretary Sabrina Singh.
However, the comptroller updated instructions to assure accurate equipment valuation in accordance with financial management standards and DOD policy on March 31. The final calculation for Fiscal Year 2023 is $3.6 billion, and Fiscal Year 2022 is $2.6 billion, making it a total of $6.2 billion, which will be redirected back into the PDA monies, as reported by Newsweek. Therefore, the country certainly did not send $6.2 billion to Ukraine mistakenly, as alleged by Rogan and Trussell.
