Sen. Lindsey Graham Says Trump's Rare Rebuke Of Dictator Is 'Spot On'

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Tuesday applauded President Donald Trump for his rare criticism of Vladimir Putin, while pushing a bill he suggested would “change the game” for the Russian dictator.

Trump appears to be losing patience with his Russian counterpart, who has demonstrated no real interest in ending his war in Ukraine.

“We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth,” Trump told reporters. “He’s very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.”

Graham said Trump “is spot on about the games Putin is playing,” adding that the upper chamber will soon advance bipartisan legislation targeting the Kremlin and its enablers as long as it refuses to engage in good faith peace talks.

“The Senate will move soon on a tough sanctions bill — not only against Russia — but also against countries like China and India that buy Russian energy products that finance Putin’s war machine,” Graham wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “The Senate bill has a presidential waiver to give President Trump maximum leverage.”

“When it comes to Putin and those who support his war machine, it is time to change the game,” he continued.

The president confirmed he “is looking at [the bill] very strongly.”

Graham and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a co-sponsor of the bill, worked to include the presidential waiver to satisfy a White House request to give Trump more options, according to Politico.

Graham has previously written that the legislation would give Trump “more leverage to end this war quickly.”

While Graham appeared optimistic the bill is on track to soon reach the Senate floor, Senate insiders told Politico that’s unlikely to happen this week. Graham’s office did not immediately return HuffPost’s request for comment about the expected timeline.

Overnight into Wednesday, Russia launched a record drone attack on Ukraine amid a series of escalating assaults on its neighbor, following Trump’s Putin criticism and his pledge to send more U.S. weapons to Kyiv.

“We have to,” Trump said Monday. “They have to be able to defend themselves. They’re getting hit very hard now. We’re going to send some more weapons — defensive weapons primarily.”

Trump’s announcement appeared to be a U-turn on the Pentagon’s earlier statement that the U.S. would be freezing shipments of critical arms to Kyiv, citing low stockpiles.

Asked about who ordered that pause, Trump suggested he was clueless.

“I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me?” he asked.

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