Russian strongman Vladimir Putin is in line for a “whoopin'” from President Trump if Moscow doesn’t come to the negotiating table to end its war on Ukraine, Sen. Lindsey Graham predicted Sunday.
“Trump has been tough on Iran, who is incredibly dangerous, but they’re in a weakened state, and Putin, your turn is coming,” Graham (R-SC) told Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Night In America With Trey Gowdy.”
“Donald Trump is the Scottie Scheffler of American politics and foreign diplomacy, and he’s about to put a whoopin’ on your ass,” added Graham, referring to the four-time major champion who added the Open’s Claret Jug to his trophy case hours earlier.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin has long sought to curry favor with President Trump. REUTERS
President Trump has warned that secondary tariffs against Russia will kick in if the Kremlin refuses to pursue peace. JIM LO SCALZO/EPA-EFE/ShutterstockOn July 14, Trump gave Russia 50 days to negotiate a peace deal or face 100% secondary tariffs that would target countries importing goods such as oil and uranium, a dramatic shift in his stance toward Europe’s largest conflict since World War II.
Trump also unveiled vague plans to ship billions of dollars worth of firepower — including Patriot batteries — to Ukraine, for which America’s European allies will pay.
“We’re flowing weapons to Ukraine, so Ukraine will have the weapons to fight Putin back,” Graham told his fellow South Carolinian Gowdy.
Graham, who authored a bipartisan sanctions bill against Russia that is languishing before the Senate, admitted that “Putin can live through sanctions,” but his war machine will take a beating if its top funders — including China, India and Brazil — pull back.
“Trump is going to impose tariffs on people that buy Russian oil. China, India and Brazil, those three countries buy about 80% of cheap Russian oil,” Graham said. “That’s what keeps Putin’s war machine going.”
“The game has changed when it comes to you, President Putin, you have played President Trump at your own peril, you made a major league mistake, and your economy is going to continue to be crushed,” he added.
Russia has continued to pummel Ukraine even after Trump’s announcement, targeting Kyiv on Sunday evening with an onslaught of drones and missiles.
Sen. Lindsey Graham is one of the key architects behind a bipartisan sanctions bill against Russia. Ukrainian Presidential Press Off/UPI/Shutterstock“Putin wants to recreate the former Soviet Union, the Russian Empire. He wants to take countries that are not his. In the mid-90s, Ukraine gave up 1,700 nuclear weapons with a promise that their sovereignty would be respected by Russia,” Graham explained, referring to the 1994 Budapest Memorandum.
“Putin broke that promise. He’s not going to stop until somebody makes him stop.”
Throughout the war, the US has shipped a wide variety of weapons to Ukraine, such as howitzers, Javelin anti-tank systems, Stinger anti-aircraft systems, Abrams tanks, drones and other munitions.
Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky teased in an interview with The Post that Washington and Kyiv are close to a “mega deal” to supply drones and related technology to the US in exchange for US weaponry.
“The people of America need this technology, and you need to have it in your arsenal,” Zelensky said at the time.
Graham also briefly turned his attention to Israel and blasted the US ally over its strike on the only Catholic church in the Gaza Strip.
That attack against the Holy Family Church, which killed at least three people, drew a rare statement of regret from the Israeli government and reportedly prompted concern from Trump.
“I’m incredibly upset by that. I’m an unapologetic supporter of the state of Israel,” Graham said. “I want to find out who did it, and I want them to be punished, and if it was settlers from the West Bank, Israelis, I want them to be punished.”






