Bloomberg Politics

Graham Was a Key Voice for Ukraine: Farkas

19 hours agoCenter

Evelyn Farkas, executive director of the McCain Institute, discusses the role the late Senator Lindsey Graham played in helping persuade President Trump to maintain support for Ukraine and other "front-line democracies." Farkas says passing tougher Russia sanctions would be the best tribute to Graham and could put meaningful pressure on Moscow by cutting into its oil revenue. She also says the US and Israel are "not fully aligned" on Iran, arguing that Washington is focused on reopening the Strait of Hormuz while Israel seeks to weaken Iran more permanently. She speaks with Joe Mathieu and Kailey Leinz on the late edition of Bloomberg's "Balance of Power." (Source: Bloomberg)

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Lindsey Graham’s funeral reaffirmed the National Cathedral as America’s Westminster Abbey

Washington Examiner

9 hours ago

Lindsey Graham’s funeral reaffirmed the National Cathedral as America’s Westminster Abbey

President Donald Trump and a who’s who of political leaders returned Tuesday to the Cathedral Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, better known as the National Cathedral, for the funeral of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham. The service reaffirmed something many Republicans seemed ready to abandon only 18 months ago: The National Cathedral remains […]

Center Right

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Senate advances Lindsey Graham’s long-stalled Russia sanctions bill just hours after his funeral

New York Post

16 hours ago

Senate advances Lindsey Graham’s long-stalled Russia sanctions bill just hours after his funeral

“Even though Lindsey is not physically with us today, his presence can certainly be felt in this chamber,” Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) said.

Right

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Trump appears to fall asleep during late Sen. Lindsey Graham's funeral

Raw Story

16 hours ago

Trump appears to fall asleep during late Sen. Lindsey Graham's funeral

President Donald Trump appeared to doze off during his late friend, Sen. Lindsey Graham's (R-SC) funeral Tuesday at Washington National Cathedral. Social media users quickly noted Trump's closed eyes and drooping face after delivering a eulogy for his former Republican ally. Journalist Aaron Rupar captured the moment and wrote, "Trump, face drooping heavily, is struggling to stay awake at Lindsey Graham's memorial service."Political commentator Jo speculated on X, "We are five months out from him faceplanting for all the world to see."Progressive account Sundae Divine posted, "Trump’s tribute was observing a brief moment of unconsciousness."Political scientist David Darmofal expressed concern, "Like I said before, it was remarkable to me how tired he was for an event in the afternoon. It's even more remarkable that the legacy media have no interest in what's going on with his health."Watch the video below. Your browser does not support the video tag.

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Senate advances Russia and Iran sanctions bill in honor of Lindsey Graham

Washington Examiner

17 hours ago

Senate advances Russia and Iran sanctions bill in honor of Lindsey Graham

The Senate on Tuesday voted to advance a dual Russia and Iran sanctions bill honoring the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, hours after the South Carolina senator’s funeral in Washington, D.C. The upper chamber voted 86-12 to advance the sanctions bill, which is meant to cripple Russia amid its war against Ukraine. The legislation also extends […]

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Trump Pays Tribute to Lindsey Graham: ‘He Died Doing the Work He Was Born to Do’

TIME

17 hours ago

Trump Pays Tribute to Lindsey Graham: ‘He Died Doing the Work He Was Born to Do’

“For more than 30 years, nothing of consequence happened in this capital without Lindsey Graham knowing about it,” the President said.

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Hannity torn apart over 'bizarre' claim about Lindsey Graham’s heaven

Alternet.org

18 hours ago

Hannity torn apart over 'bizarre' claim about Lindsey Graham’s heaven

Fox News entertainer Sean Hannity seems to have a mighty weird understanding of heaven, reports Mediaite.On Tuesday, Hannity said the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is likely sitting in a gold-encrusted heaven inspired by President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom and Mar-a-Lago.“Lindsey, Mr. President, I would argue in my mind, probably has a heavenly version of Mar-a-Lago. It may even be a little bigger,” said Hannity. “He may have a little more gold in the Oval Office in his mansion in heaven, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he added one big beautiful ballroom and an arch somewhere on the property because he would want to obviously duplicate his dearest friend in life, you, Mr. President.”Daily Beast described the eulogy as "bizarre," and Mediaite reports Hannity delivered his remarks after Trump’s own eulogy, in which the president praised Graham’s eagerness for war and joked about broadcasting the senator’s phone number during a heated GOP primary.As Trump sat and fought to stay awake at times in the audience, Hannity reminisced about the times he would miss sharing with Graham.“To my dear friend, to our fearless warrior, I will miss our late-night calls, I will miss our strategizing together, I will miss our dinners, I will miss our conversations about the President and the country we both loved,” Hannity added. “I’ll miss the gossip, I’ll be honest. I’ll miss talking about how to defeat evil in our time and how to find a path to peace so that peace may one day reign around the world.”Mediaite added that Hannity also referenced his own show before easing into a discussion of Graham’s version of heaven, complete with Trump’s design trappings, which involve liberal use of gold paint.Critics lashed Hannity's speech on social media."Just as the Bible foretold," said podcaster Hemant Mehta on X."Theologian Sean Hannity shares a vision of hell," heckled Variety Chief Music critic Chris Willman on X.Slate contributor Christina Cauterucci said there is no shortage of examples of Trump’s gold fixation, however.It’s long been a "trademark of Trumpworld," and he has brought it into the White House, decorating the so-called People’s House with as much gold trim as possible, Cauterucci said. And recently at the Trump National Doral Miami golf club, a group of clergy members dedicated a 22-foot-tall golden statue of the president, an idol that is “everything Trump wants to be: larger than life, fit to be worshipped, an embodiment of excess that thumbs its nose at notions of democratic propriety.”Trump and Graham grew close after the death of Republican Sen. John McCain, of Arizona. Prior to McCain’s death, however, Graham once took pride in standing up to extremism within the Republican Party — at least, before he decided to hitch his political cart to President Donald Trump’s wagon.Increasingly, that unpopularity has extended to Republicans and Trump’s own MAGA coalition.

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Senate Advances Graham’s Russia Sanctions Bill

NYT > U.S. > Politics

18 hours ago

Senate Advances Graham’s Russia Sanctions Bill

As Washington remembered Senator Lindsey Graham, his colleagues cleared away a hurdle to passage of his long-stalled bill to penalize Moscow.

Center Left

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Axios

18 hours ago

Zelensky to Axios: Ukraine needs missile interceptors to head off winter disaster

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Axios in an interview Tuesday that he asked President Trump for an emergency "winter package" of Patriot air defense interceptors to help thwart Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure. Why it matters: Ukraine's stockpiles of the interceptors have been almost depleted, and without them the country can't defend itself against ballistic missiles. It was the reason Ukraine couldn't stop recent Russian attacks on Kyiv.If this problem isn't solved by winter, Russian missile attacks could destroy Ukraine's power plants, shutting off heating for millions of Ukrainians and creating a humanitarian crisis.The war with Iran has also drawn down U.S. stockpiles of Patriot interceptors, making it difficult to sell them to Ukraine. Driving the news: During the NATO summit in Turkey earlier this month, Zelensky and Trump discussed the possibility of the U.S. giving Ukraine licenses to produce Patriot interceptors — in order to reduce its dependence on U.S. stockpiles and boost production overall.Zelensky said Trump agreed during their Tuesday meeting to move ahead with the Patriot production licenses.After his White House visit, Zelensky said he met with representatives of Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, both of which produce Patriot interceptors, to discuss the issue.Yes, but: Even if Ukraine obtains the licenses, it would take one to five years to produce large amounts of interceptors.That timeline doesn't work, Zelensky said: "We need the Patriots yesterday." He's seeking 300 of them by winter.He said Trump promised he would try to help, but also made clear it's difficult because of the need for interceptors in the war with Iran. Zelensky said Russia uses 30 to 40 ballistic missiles in every major strike it conducts against Ukraine. It's conducting three to five such attacks every month.He stressed that Ukraine is ready to share any military technology or expertise the U.S. wants in order to get Patriot interceptors.What to watch: The Ukrainian president said he and U.S. defense companies are also exploring modifying Ukrainian-made ballistic missiles and turning them into anti-missile interceptors with similar capabilities to the Patriot missiles. "It will be faster and cheaper," he said. State of play: While the situation on the front line is still at a stalemate, Ukraine has managed to gain significant momentum with drone and missile strikes deep inside Russia that hit oil facilities and other critical infrastructure. They resulted in Russian gas shortages and growing criticism from the population about the war. The changing war dynamic has helped his and Ukraine's standing with Trump, Zelensky said."Our relations are much better and more constructive. Not so emotional like it was. And I think that it's good that it's better," he said. Zelensky said he briefed Trump about how Ukrainian precision strikes haven't killed civilians but instead have cut off fuel supplies in Russian-occupied Crimea — while sapping the morale of the Russian military. "People who are there and the Russian soldiers can't live without diesel and petrol. So of course, immediately in the polls, support for the war decreased in Russia," he said.The big picture: U.S. mediation efforts between Russia and Ukraine have been put on the back burner since the war with Iran started. Trump envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff are still in touch with Russian and Ukrainian negotiators, but spend most of their time on Iran. Zelensky said one outcome of his meeting with Trump is a likely visit to Kyiv by Kushner and Witkoff in the next two weeks. It would be their first trip to Ukraine after multiple visits to Russia. The Ukrainian president said he wants to discuss in detail with them ideas for relaunching peace talks to end the war, but also for them to see the situation in Ukraine firsthand. Zelensky said Kushner and Witkoff still want to reach a ceasefire in order to allow space for diplomacy. But he emphasized that he doesn't think Putin would agree to pause the fighting.Despite the current momentum on the battlefield and his skepticism of Putin's intentions, Zelensky said he is still interested in resuming peace talks with Russia. What to watch: The Ukrainian president said he thinks Putin is moving toward further escalation and could even try to provoke other countries in the region in order to have "a more simple victory to sell to his audience." Zelensky claimed Russia still gets weapons from Iran and is building infrastructure for 30,000 additional troops from North Korea who would be sent to fight in Ukraine. He also asserted North Korea is supplying ballistic missiles and other weapons to Russia. Zelensky even claimed Putin is taking low-profile steps to prepare for the potential mobilization of additional 500,000 troops. "This is what we see," he said. "It's not the signal that he wants to stop the war."

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Graham Was a Key Voice for Ukraine: Farkas

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Graham Was a Key Voice for Ukraine: Farkas

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