28 February 2025
Lindsey Graham broke his longtime alliance with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, saying he must resign or change after his disaster meeting with Donald Trump.
Graham has visited Ukraine several times - as recently as last year - and has been one of the Republican Party's biggest cheerleaders for American support of the war, even meeting with the president minutes before his showdown with Trump and JD Vance.
Speaking to Fox News amid the fallout, Graham said he was 'devastated' at what took place.
'Everything I and many have been working for to try to get a new relationship with the United States around our critical minerals deal was completely obliterated today,' he said.
He said he'd 'warned' Zelensky to 'be grateful' and 'be thankful' to Trump when they met, then asked a shocking question.
'The question for me is: is he redeemable in the eyes of Americans? Most Americans witnessing what they saw today would not want Zelensky to be their business partner, including me.'
After meeting with Trump, he said the choice was clear for the beleaguered Ukrainian president.
'He either needs to resign and send somebody over that we can do business with, or he needs to change,' Graham said.
Zelensky responded to Graham's demand that he step down in an interview with Fox News later Friday evening.
'I don't know if he will be happy after my words. This decision can only be by the people of Ukraine.'
He said he is always ready, but that 'I'm not sure that is a good idea.'
'If United States will support NATO, I think that is enough for Ukraine. I did all I had to do. If somebody is not happy with me, okay.'
'Americans vote for American president, only Ukraine - with all respect to Lindsey - can vote for their president.'
DailyMail.com has reached out to Senator Graham for comment on the Zelensky interview.
Graham was effusive in his praise for both Trump and Vance for how they kept America first principles in place during the meeting.
'President Trump was in a very good mood last night. Somebody asked, am I embarrassed about Trump? I have never been more proud of the president standing up for our country,' Graham said. He called the meeting an 'absolute, utter disaster.'
'The way [Zelensky] handled the meeting, the way he confronted the president was just over the top,' said Graham.
The tense war of words that played out inside the Oval Office Friday went off the rails after President Donald Trump took offense of how Ukrainian President Zelensky treated his vice president JD Vance.
White House officials told DailyMail.com the stunning confrontation was not any kind of premeditated tag-team operation designed to humiliate the supplicant Zelensky to try to buckle his hard-line negotiating stance or somehow gain advantage in a scuttled rare earth minerals deal.
Trump had been pleasant with Zelensky to start their interactions – although Trump's first comment, caught on a hot-mic, was a glib remark about his informal clothing. (Zelensky has underdressed as a statement since Russia's 2022 invasion of his country.)
'Zelensky should not have gone after JD,' said a senior White House official in the minutes after the stunning confrontation played out on television. The official said Zelensky's digs prompted Trump, 78, to defend his 40-year-old Number Two – and the situation quickly escalated.
The clash with the VP that kicked off the angry back-and-forth came in a meeting where Zelensky was on Trump's turf in an effort to try to gain security guarantees in a rare earth minerals deal that Trump says will provide a form of protection by putting U.S. business interests inside his country.
The White House was looking for appreciation. Instead, some of Zelensky's gestures got interpreted as if he couldn't tolerate what he was hearing.
'This was not planned at all,' said one source familiar with the situation, denying it was any kind of premeditated ambush.
As hot as things got inside the Oval Office, there were indications President Trump was relishing the blowup after it unfolded.
'This is going to be great television, I will say that,' Trump remarked at the end.
Trump called on a U.S.-based Polish reporter who pressed him on the U.S. posture toward Russia. Trump called the question 'stupid'. But then later on in an exchange that lasted 50 minutes, Trump called on the same reporter – whose queries prompted Vance to say Ukraine had been ungrateful for billions in U.S. support.
Vance blamed previous Democratic U.S. administrations for failing to stop Russia, but Zelensky tried to shift the conversation back to Putin. 'He killed people,' he said.
'What kind of diplomacy, JD, are you speaking about,' the Ukrainian asked, referring to Vance by his first name rather than his formal title.
The remark set off Vance – who lectured Zelensky, and then got told off by the visitor for failing to visit Ukraine as a senator, even while many others made the pilgrimage.
'I'm talking about the kind of diplomacy that's going to end the destruction of your country, Mr. President [Zelensky]. Mr. President, with respect. I think it's disrespectful for you to come to the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media,' said Vance.
'Have you ever been to Ukraine that you see the problems we have?' Zelensky asked Vance, who last April in the Senate voted against a package with $61 billion in aid for Ukraine.
'I have been to – I've actually, I've actually watched and seen the stories, and I know what happens is you bring people. You bring them on a propaganda tour, Mr. President,' Vance shot back.
Then Trump jumped in to defend his vice president. 'You've allowed to be in a very bad position, and it happens to be right about that. YOu're not in a good position. You don't have the cards right now.'
'I'm not playing cards,' Zelensky responded, speaking over him.
'Have you said thank you once?' Vance blasted Zelensky at one point in the conflagration.
'Just say thank you,' Vance told him. 'I said it a lot of times,' Zelensky responded.
Zelensky's first words had been: 'Thank you so much, Mr. President, thank you for the invitation' – although Vance appeared to be seeking gratitude for the massive infusion of military aid.
Zelensky could have a beef with Zelensky over some of his past comments. 'I gotta be honest with you, I don't really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another,' Vance said back in 2022, even as members of both parties were rallying around the country.
And when Vance spoke at the Munich Security Conference this month, he elevated free speech issues over the Russia threat.
'The threat that I worry the most about vis-à-vis Europe is not Russia. It's not China. It's not any other external actor,' Vance said at the time. 'What I worry about is the threat from within — the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values, values shared with the United States of America.'
www.dailymail.co.uk
Lindsey Graham broke his longtime alliance with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, saying he must resign or change after his disaster meeting with Donald Trump.
Graham has visited Ukraine several times - as recently as last year - and has been one of the Republican Party's biggest cheerleaders for American support of the war, even meeting with the president minutes before his showdown with Trump and JD Vance.
Speaking to Fox News amid the fallout, Graham said he was 'devastated' at what took place.
'Everything I and many have been working for to try to get a new relationship with the United States around our critical minerals deal was completely obliterated today,' he said.
He said he'd 'warned' Zelensky to 'be grateful' and 'be thankful' to Trump when they met, then asked a shocking question.
'The question for me is: is he redeemable in the eyes of Americans? Most Americans witnessing what they saw today would not want Zelensky to be their business partner, including me.'
After meeting with Trump, he said the choice was clear for the beleaguered Ukrainian president.
'He either needs to resign and send somebody over that we can do business with, or he needs to change,' Graham said.
Zelensky responded to Graham's demand that he step down in an interview with Fox News later Friday evening.
'I don't know if he will be happy after my words. This decision can only be by the people of Ukraine.'
He said he is always ready, but that 'I'm not sure that is a good idea.'
'If United States will support NATO, I think that is enough for Ukraine. I did all I had to do. If somebody is not happy with me, okay.'
'Americans vote for American president, only Ukraine - with all respect to Lindsey - can vote for their president.'
DailyMail.com has reached out to Senator Graham for comment on the Zelensky interview.
Graham was effusive in his praise for both Trump and Vance for how they kept America first principles in place during the meeting.
'President Trump was in a very good mood last night. Somebody asked, am I embarrassed about Trump? I have never been more proud of the president standing up for our country,' Graham said. He called the meeting an 'absolute, utter disaster.'
'The way [Zelensky] handled the meeting, the way he confronted the president was just over the top,' said Graham.
The tense war of words that played out inside the Oval Office Friday went off the rails after President Donald Trump took offense of how Ukrainian President Zelensky treated his vice president JD Vance.
White House officials told DailyMail.com the stunning confrontation was not any kind of premeditated tag-team operation designed to humiliate the supplicant Zelensky to try to buckle his hard-line negotiating stance or somehow gain advantage in a scuttled rare earth minerals deal.
Trump had been pleasant with Zelensky to start their interactions – although Trump's first comment, caught on a hot-mic, was a glib remark about his informal clothing. (Zelensky has underdressed as a statement since Russia's 2022 invasion of his country.)
'Zelensky should not have gone after JD,' said a senior White House official in the minutes after the stunning confrontation played out on television. The official said Zelensky's digs prompted Trump, 78, to defend his 40-year-old Number Two – and the situation quickly escalated.
The clash with the VP that kicked off the angry back-and-forth came in a meeting where Zelensky was on Trump's turf in an effort to try to gain security guarantees in a rare earth minerals deal that Trump says will provide a form of protection by putting U.S. business interests inside his country.
The White House was looking for appreciation. Instead, some of Zelensky's gestures got interpreted as if he couldn't tolerate what he was hearing.
'This was not planned at all,' said one source familiar with the situation, denying it was any kind of premeditated ambush.
As hot as things got inside the Oval Office, there were indications President Trump was relishing the blowup after it unfolded.
'This is going to be great television, I will say that,' Trump remarked at the end.
Trump called on a U.S.-based Polish reporter who pressed him on the U.S. posture toward Russia. Trump called the question 'stupid'. But then later on in an exchange that lasted 50 minutes, Trump called on the same reporter – whose queries prompted Vance to say Ukraine had been ungrateful for billions in U.S. support.
Vance blamed previous Democratic U.S. administrations for failing to stop Russia, but Zelensky tried to shift the conversation back to Putin. 'He killed people,' he said.
'What kind of diplomacy, JD, are you speaking about,' the Ukrainian asked, referring to Vance by his first name rather than his formal title.
The remark set off Vance – who lectured Zelensky, and then got told off by the visitor for failing to visit Ukraine as a senator, even while many others made the pilgrimage.
'I'm talking about the kind of diplomacy that's going to end the destruction of your country, Mr. President [Zelensky]. Mr. President, with respect. I think it's disrespectful for you to come to the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media,' said Vance.
'Have you ever been to Ukraine that you see the problems we have?' Zelensky asked Vance, who last April in the Senate voted against a package with $61 billion in aid for Ukraine.
'I have been to – I've actually, I've actually watched and seen the stories, and I know what happens is you bring people. You bring them on a propaganda tour, Mr. President,' Vance shot back.
Then Trump jumped in to defend his vice president. 'You've allowed to be in a very bad position, and it happens to be right about that. YOu're not in a good position. You don't have the cards right now.'
'I'm not playing cards,' Zelensky responded, speaking over him.
'Have you said thank you once?' Vance blasted Zelensky at one point in the conflagration.
'Just say thank you,' Vance told him. 'I said it a lot of times,' Zelensky responded.
Zelensky's first words had been: 'Thank you so much, Mr. President, thank you for the invitation' – although Vance appeared to be seeking gratitude for the massive infusion of military aid.
Zelensky could have a beef with Zelensky over some of his past comments. 'I gotta be honest with you, I don't really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another,' Vance said back in 2022, even as members of both parties were rallying around the country.
And when Vance spoke at the Munich Security Conference this month, he elevated free speech issues over the Russia threat.
'The threat that I worry the most about vis-à-vis Europe is not Russia. It's not China. It's not any other external actor,' Vance said at the time. 'What I worry about is the threat from within — the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values, values shared with the United States of America.'
Lindsey Graham's shock Fox News interview spells trouble for Zelensky
Lindsey Graham broke his longtime alliance with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, saying he must resign or change after his disaster meeting with Donald Trump.
