Donald Trump Junior has claimed that the United States letting Ukraine use long-range missiles against Russia could spark World War III.
President Joe Biden has authorised Ukraine's use of US-supplied long-range missiles to strike inside Russia for the first time.
The decision allows Kyiv to conduct strikes deeper into Russia and marks a major US policy shift, just as Mr Biden is about to leave office.
In response, Trump Jr, 46, tweeted that the “military industrial complex” wants the war to escalate before his president-elect father, Donald Trump, returns to the White House.
Trump Jr wrote: “The Military Industrial Complex seems to want to make sure they get World War 3 going before my father has a chance to create peace and save lives.
“Gotta lock in those $Trillions. Life be damned!!! Imbeciles!”
The Military Industrial Complex seems to want to make sure they get World War 3 going before my father has a chance to create peace and save lives.
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) November 17, 2024
Gotta lock in those $Trillions.
Life be damned!!! Imbeciles! https://t.co/ZzfwnhBxRh
Trump has pledged to limit American support for Ukraine and end the war as soon as possible - although he has yet to publicly reveal any plans on how he would end the war.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday the missiles would "speak for themselves".
Two US officials and a source familiar with the situation revealed the significant change in Washington's policy in the Ukraine-Russia conflict on Sunday, news agency Reuters reported.
The weapons are likely to be used in response to North Korea's decision to send thousands of troops to Russia in support of Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, according to one source, AP said.
Mr Zelensky and many of his Western supporters have been pressing Biden for months to allow Ukraine to strike military targets inside Russia with Western-supplied missiles, saying the US ban had made it impossible for Ukraine to try to stop Russian attacks on its cities and electrical grids.
Trump, who takes office in January, spoke for months as a candidate about wanting Russia's war in Ukraine to be over, but he mostly ducked questions about whether he wanted US ally Ukraine to win.
He also repeatedly slammed the Biden administration for giving Kyiv tens of billions of dollars in aid. His election victory has Ukraine's international backers worrying that any rushed settlement would mostly benefit Putin.
News of Biden’s alleged approval of the missiles came hours after Russia carried out its largest air strike on Ukraine in almost three months.
In the early hours of Sunday, Russia launched around 120 missiles and 90 drones in a "massive" combined air strike on Ukraine's energy infrastructure that killed at least seven people, Ukrainian authorities said.
“These attacks again highlight Ukraine's need for additional air defence systems from our allies," President Volodymyr Zelensky said at the time.
