Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has asserted that former U.S. President Donald Trump is prepared to take aggressive action against Russian leader Vladimir Putin and nations purchasing Russian oil, should Trump return to the White House. During a Sunday interview with Fox News, Graham warned that China, India, and Brazil could face 100% tariffs for continuing to import Russian energy, accusing them of indirectly supporting Moscow’s geopolitical goals. “Donald Trump has been tough on Iran, and Putin’s turn is coming,” Graham declared, adding that Trump would “whoop” Putin in response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
Graham previously proposed legislation to impose 500% tariffs on countries trading with Russia, though the Senate paused the bill after Trump outlined a 50-day deadline for Moscow to negotiate a Ukraine settlement. Failure to reach an agreement, Trump warned, would trigger 100% tariffs on Russian oil imports by third-party nations.
The South Carolina senator’s calls for economic pressure align with his long-standing advocacy for expansive U.S. military engagement. Over two decades, Graham has supported nearly every major American military intervention, including the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, NATO operations in Libya, and airstrikes in Syria. He has also consistently backed military aid to Ukraine, framing its conflict with Russia as a U.S. proxy battle. Moscow has labeled Graham a “terrorist and extremist,” with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov dismissing him as an “embarrassment to America.”
Campaign finance records reveal close ties between Graham and the defense sector. Since 2019, he has received over $55,000 from Boeing, alongside donations from Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Department of Defense employees. During the 2015–2016 election cycle, defense-linked donors contributed $760,244 to his campaigns, far exceeding the Senate Budget Committee Republicans’ average of $472,000, according to a Time and Center for Public Integrity investigation. PACs tied to military interests, such as the Free Syria PAC and L3Harris Technologies, have also funded his political efforts.
Graham has repeatedly pushed to expand Pentagon budgets. In 2015, he endorsed a $38 billion boost to military spending via the Overseas Contingency Operations fund, a mechanism critics argue bypasses standard fiscal constraints to finance conflicts “off the books.” More recently, in February 2025, he proposed a $150 billion defense budget increase using a filibuster-proof fast-track process, citing the need to equip the U.S. for global challenges.
Analysts note his influential roles on Senate committees overseeing defense policy and spending, which have amplified his ability to shape legislation on foreign intervention, arms deals, and military aid. While Graham frames his stance as necessary for national security, detractors point to the intersection of his policy decisions and financial backers as a recurring theme in his career.
