Sen. Graham on Trump waiving Russia sanctions: ‘I look forward to talking to him’

Sen. Darline Graham (R-S.C.) said Saturday that she would prefer to keep sanctions pressure on Russia after President Trump waived sanctions on the country that were enacted through a bill Graham championed.

Trump signed an executive order Friday waiving sanctions on Russian energy, passed under the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act. The measures were intended to apply increased pressure on the U.S. adversary to end its war in Ukraine.

Graham championed the bill, which was named for her late brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). The South Carolina senator told the Associated Press Saturday that she is proud of the legislation, but did not go as far as other GOP officials in bashing the president’s order.

“The president and I share the same goal, which is to end the war, get gas and diesel prices down,” Graham said. “The sanctions bill is one of the tools he can use to do that. It’s up to him whether or not he chooses to use it.”

“Personally, I would choose to keep the pressure on Russia … because I don’t trust Putin, and I don’t trust Russia,” she added.

Graham’s brother Lindsey fought to pass tougher sanctions on Russia just before his death earlier this year, and the bill named in his honor passed with overwhelming bipartisan support. Graham said Saturday that the bill “meant a lot to Lindsey,” but that he at times disagreed with the president.

“They had that relationship where they could agree to disagree sometimes,” Graham said.

Members of both parties blasted the president’s decision over the weekend. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who lost renomination after Trump endorsed his opponent, said in a post to the social platform X, “Lindsey would be appalled.”

While Graham did not criticize the president directly, she did say she was likely to discuss the matter with him when he visits South Carolina for a rally next week.

“I look forward to talking to him next week because he’s gonna be in the state, so we’ll probably sit down and, you know, we’ll talk about this,” Graham said.