Wall Street Journal editorial board: Trump ‘stuck a shiv in the back’ of Graham’s legacy

The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board said Sunday that President Trump had “stuck a shiv in the back” of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-S.C.) legacy following his decision to waive Russian sanctions included in legislation named after the senator.

The board accused Trump of being “ best friend in the world ” to Russian President Vladimir Putin, adding that “the evidence compounds that Mr. Trump wants Ukraine to surrender on Mr. Putin’s terms.”

“When the election is over there needs to be a bipartisan reckoning for Mr. Trump’s budding alliance with the Kremlin against Ukraine, Europe and American interests,” the editorial board concluded in its piece.

Trump waived the sanctions in the legislative package , which was posthumously dedicated to Graham, that was intended to put pressure on the Kremlin to end its years-long military operations against Ukraine. The legislation imposed tariffs on top Russian energy purchasers and those who help the country evade sanctions.

The president defended the decision to do so, writing on Truth Social that his administration was “in the process of negotiating Peace in the war between Russia and Ukraine” and didn’t “want to do anything that will drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table.”

“Signing that document at this time will do that, and I can sign it later, or any time that I want,” he continued.

The move drew bipartisan ire as the legislative package passed the House and Senate with wide margins ; Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) even called the waiver “entirely irresponsible.”

“The President is prolonging the war, not ending it,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) wrote on social media, referring to Friday’s order.

Other GOP lawmakers have been critical of Trump’s proximity to Putin and the Kremlin in recent days following the president’s Russian oil deal amid rising global energy prices.

Under the agreement , the president said Russia could “immediately” begin supplying 300,000 tons of diesel, an additional 500,000 tons in November and then 1 million tons “immediately thereafter.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky slammed both of Trump’s decisions as the waiver marked another flashpoint in the world leaders’ relationship.

On Sunday, Zelensky stated in an interview on NBC News’s “Meet the Press” that Ukraine trusted Trump , adding that it would be “unbelievable” for the U.S. to support Putin over him.