根据一份记录特朗普乌克兰战略核心事件和随后弹劾事件的新报告，白宫官员很难就冻结对乌克兰的军事援助与特朗普总统举行会谈，因为总统在打高尔夫球。
该报告于周日由纽约时报——详细说明高级政府官员如何试图让特朗普释放国会指定给乌克兰军方的数亿美元。
总统被指控拒绝提供援助，以迫使乌克兰政府调查针对2020年可能的对手乔拜登的腐败指控，以及指控乌克兰干涉2016年总统选举的阴谋论。
本月早些时候被众议院弹劾，总统预计将在明年初由参议院审判。
在一名匿名情报官员告密者对总统的行为提出投诉后，援助最终在9月份被释放。前一个月倍报道称，官员们一直在努力解决冻结问题，但遭到了总统的拒绝或日程安排的阻挠。
五角大楼官员警告白宫预算办公室——由代理参谋长米克·马尔瓦尼领导——冻结的援助中的6100万美元必须在8月12日之前花掉，否则将会丢失。
这倍解释说，预算办公室认为这一警告是为了迫使解冻被冻结的援助。
作为回应，穆尔瓦内试图安排一个与总统和其他艾滋病患者的电话，并了解冻结情况。然而，他们无法确定时间，因为特朗普正和职业球员约翰·达利在新泽西的贝德明斯特度假村打高尔夫，官员们也不知道这对搭档会打多长时间。
这张档案照片显示唐纳德·特朗普总统于2019年8月2日离开白宫前往位于新泽西州贝德明斯特的高尔夫度假胜地华盛顿特区与记者交谈
电话从未打过倍尽管特朗普最终在8月12日告诉贝德明斯特的马尔瓦尼，他希望冻结措施保持不变。告密者当天提交了他们的报告。
当月晚些时候，高级政府官员试图说服总统释放援助。该问题在8月28日政治报报道冻结时公开。
当时，国家安全顾问约翰·博尔顿、国务卿迈克·庞贝和国防部长马克·埃斯珀在椭圆形办公室加入特朗普，试图影响总统，但没有成功。
博尔顿告诉特朗普，援助“符合美国的利益”倍引用了一位未透露姓名的官员对会议的介绍。
斯珀对此表示赞同，并补充道，“这种防御关系，我们从中获得了一些真正的好处”，包括大部分资金都花在了美国商品上。
但据报道，特朗普坚持己见，声称乌克兰是一个“腐败的国家”，美国正在通过帮助沃洛德梅尔·泽林斯基总统领导的新政府“浪费我们的钱”。
相反，特朗普要求欧洲国家在基辅与俄罗斯支持的该国东部分离主义者的持续冲突中提供更多帮助。
新闻周刊已通过电子邮件联系白宫，要求回复倍报告。
WHITE HOUSE CALL OVER FROZEN UKRAINE AID WAS DELAYED BECAUSE TRUMP WAS GOLFING: REPORT
White House officials struggled to set up meetings with President Donald Trump regarding frozen military aid to Ukraine because the president was golfing, according to a new report charting the events at the center of Trump's Ukraine strategy and subsequent impeachment.
The report—published Sunday by The New York Times—details how senior administration officials tried to have Trump release hundreds of millions of dollars earmarked for the Ukrainian military by Congress.
The president is accused of withholding the aid to pressure the Ukrainian government into investigating debunked corruption allegations against possible 2020 opponent Joe Biden and conspiracy theories alleging Ukrainian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
Impeached by the House earlier this month, the president is expected to be tried by the Senate early next year.
The aid was eventually released in September, after an anonymous intelligence official whistleblower had submitted a complaint about the president's conduct. The month before, the Times reported, officials had been working to address the freeze but were rebuffed by the president or frustrated by his schedule.
Pentagon officials had warned the White House budget office—headed by acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney—that $61 million of the frozen aid needed to be spent by August 12 or it would be lost.
The Times explained that the budget office saw the warning as an effort to force the release of the frozen aid.
In response, Mulvaney attempted to schedule a call with the president and other aids with knowledge of the freeze. However, they were unable to set a time because Trump was golfing with professional player John Daly at his Bedminster resort in New Jersey, and officials did not know how long the pair would be playing for.
This file photo shows President Donald Trump talking to journalists before departing the White House for his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf resort on August 2, 2019 in Washington, D.C.
The call never took place, the Times noted, though Trump eventually told Mulvaney from Bedminster on August 12 that he wanted the freeze kept in place. The whistleblower submitted their report that day.
Later that month, senior administration officials tried to convince the president to release the aid. The issue became public on August 28 when Politico reported the freeze.
Then-National Security Advisor John Bolton, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper joined Trump in the Oval Office to try and sway the president, but were unsuccessful.
Bolton told Trump the aid was "in America's interest," according to the Times, which cited an unnamed official briefed on the meeting.
Esper concurred, adding, "This defense relationship, we have gotten some really good benefits from it," including the fact that most of the money was being spent on American goods.
But Trump reportedly stuck to his guns, asserting that Ukraine was "a corrupt country" and that the U.S. was "pissing away our money" by helping the new government headed by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Instead, Trump demanded that European nations do more to help Kiev in its ongoing conflict with Russian-backed separatists in the east of the country.
Newsweek has contacted the White House by email for a response to the Times report.
