After the U.S. House of Representatives passed the bipartisan foreign aid package — which included sending $60 billion to Ukraine — U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) appeared on Fox News Sunday. Graham said: “This would not have passed without Donald Trump…President Trump has created a loan component onto this package which gives us leverage down the road.”
Lindsey Graham on the passage of Ukraine aid:
“This wouldn’t have passed without Donald Trump.”
WTF? pic.twitter.com/Lmk1Ua6d9H
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) April 21, 2024
The package directs the President of the United States “to seek repayment from the Ukrainian government of $10 billion in economic assistance.” In 2026, the POTUS will have the option to forgive the loan.
Graham insinuates that the loan component of the package, which had Trump’s support, made it easier for House Republicans to vote in its favor.
(That political cover wasn’t enough to sway far-right MAGA supporters including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who voted against the aid and previously filed a motion to vacate Speaker Johnson due to his collaboration with Democrats.)
In February, Trump opposed a very similar bipartisan $95.3 billion foreign aid package in the Senate and said U.S. foreign aid needs to be structured as a loan. Graham voted against it, and House Speaker Johnson refused to have members vote on it. Today Graham is applauding Johnson and House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) for “working together in a bipartisan fashion.”
A political question follows: Graham gives credit to Trump, but does Trump want it? The former President recently said he “stands with” Speaker Johnson, though that professed allegiance wasn’t attached to the Ukraine issue. Trump’s loudest supporters — Greene, Sen. J.D. Vance, et al remain vehemently against the aid, but Trump has been notably — and unusually — noncommittal (so far) this time around on the issue, despite his previous objections to similar legislation.