Graham won't change his views on Russia
WASHINGTON — After six years of contention with Democrats controlling the White House and Republicans controlling at least one chamber of Congress, Donald Trump’s victory was supposed to usher in a more unified era.
The Republican president-elect, after all, will take office as both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives remain controlled by Republicans. But before many of Trump’s policies are even known, cracks in the unification are appearing. The cracks are small, and it looks at this point like they are all related to foreign policy, or more specifically Russia. But at the heart of this looming discord is U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
Graham, with the substantial help of U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has made it clear that he won’t be backing down on Russia in the name of party unity or to please a new president. When asked to comment, Graham’s reply by e-mail was simple: “I’ll support him when I think he’s right. And I’ll oppose him when I think he’s wrong.”
He expanded on that a bit by adding, “There will be areas of agreement, and I’ll support him in those. And in others I will speak my mind and do my job.”
Anthony Cordesman, an expert in geopolitics and international security at the D.C.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, a bipartisan think tank, was quick to point out that foreign policy is presidential turf. The president will set the tone, and Trump’s actual foreign policy isn’t yet known. But Cordesman said he suspected that a political outsider such as Trump was about to get a lesson in the limitations on presidential power.
“Does the president face the prospect of pressure from his own party, as well as from Democrats?” he asked in a telephone interview. “That’s been clear throughout the campaign, and that won’t go away after the inauguration.”
He also said foreign policy wasn’t as easy as a single policy. Each issue requires its own policy. Even when dealing with Russia, there are differences among how to deal with President Vladimir Putin regarding Ukraine and Syria, suspected interference in the U.S. election and the future of NATO.
Cordesman said most of the foreign policy community agrees with Graham.
As does the American public, apparently. A new poll by the nonpartisan Chicago Council on Global Affairs indicated that even among Trump’s own party only a slim majority — 51 percent — opposes a congressional inquiry into alleged Russian interference in the U.S. elections. Overall, 65 percent of Americans want one. Trump has been dismissive of the need for this, while Graham and McCain have been strongly in favor.
The opinion poll indicated that, in general, Americans have their lowest opinion of Russia since the mid-1980s, during the final phase of the Cold War.
Nile Gardiner, the director of the conservative Heritage Foundation’s Thatcher Center for Freedom, said it was difficult to see the cozy Trump rhetoric of the campaign trail actually becoming policy.
