Trump Says Lindsey Graham Did Not Want the Russia-Ukraine War to End: He Was Into ‘Keeping it Going’

President Donald Trump told CNN’s Jake Tapper Sunday that the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) wanted to see Russia’s war with Ukraine continue, and called him “very, very militant” when it came to President Volodymyr Zelensky fighting on.

Graham died shortly after returning to Washington, D.C., on Saturday night after his 10th trip to Ukraine. Trump said Graham called him shortly after arriving home and they talked about his “great trip.”

When Tapper asked about foreign policy, Trump answered:

Well, we disagreed a little bit. But overall, you know, I’m a big Israel person. He was certainly that. I wanted to see the war with Ukraine end very quickly. I think he was more into, you know, keeping it going. Frankly, he was he was very, very militant having to do with that. But I was from the standpoint of 25,000 people dying every month. I didn’t like that. And, he was very much, he was a very strong military person. So am I, but I think we used it a little bit differently. We probably had a little bit of a different attitude, but we got along on it. Essentially, we agreed. And essentially we agreed on almost everything.

“I spoke to him, just, he had already landed,” Trump added. “Was probably at his place. I don’t know where he was, but I spoke to him, and then I got a call a few hours later saying late in the evening, at 2:00 in the morning, actually. But they found out about it, I think about 8:00 about his problem. So it had to be something very quick because he was fine when I spoke to him. Other than being tired, he was fine.”

On Sunday, The Kyiv Independent ran a story with the headline, “‘True champion of freedom’: Ukraine pays respects to late U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham.”

The report said Graham met with Zelensky on July 10 “to discuss strengthening Ukraine’s air defense and progress on a Russian sanctions bill in the U.S.”

“His passing sparked an outpouring of thanks and praise from top Ukrainian officials, including President Zelensky who called him ‘a true champion of freedom and the values that make our world safer,'” the article said.

Watch the clip above via CNN.

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