The following is the transcript of an interview with Sen. Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on March 16, 2025.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Welcome back to Face the Nation. We turn now to the chairman of the Budget Committee, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who joins us this morning from Clemson, South Carolina. Welcome back.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM: Thank you.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Near miss with the government shutdown, sir, and I- I thought we’d be talking about a lot of domestic policy, but President Trump’s point of view seems to be overseas in these- in this past week, certainly a lot of action. I looked through the last time we spoke, you were advocating for President Trump to bomb Iran. You said there’s “a one in a trillion chance you’ll degrade the Iranian nuclear program through diplomacy.” Since then, President Trump has offered negotiations. Are you softening your stance?
SEN. GRAHAM: I don’t mind negotiating long as we get the outcome that we all desire. They can’t have a nuclear bomb. So I think there is a one in a trillion chance the Ayatollah would ever genuinely give up his quest for a nuclear weapon. He wants a nuclear weapon to use it. He wants to destroy Israel, kill all the Jews. He’s a religious Nazi. He wants to purify Islam and drive us out of the region. Yeah, I think he- I think he’s a fanatical religious Nazi who would use a bomb. But let’s talk to him, and if he really is sincere, give up enrichment. There are 40 countries in this world that have nuclear power but don’t enrich. There’s no commercial purpose for enriching uranium at 60%. He has enough to make six bombs at 60% so turn that all over the international community. We’ll pay for it. Get out of the enrichment business, and we’ll help you with the nuclear power program. If you’ll do all those things, then I will have been proven wrong.
MARGARET BRENNAN: That’s a long- that’s a long to do list. And so far, no- no indication that he’s taking the offer–
SEN. GRAHAM: — Not really- if you don’t want to bomb, give up enrichment. You don’t need enrichment for nuclear power. You do need enrichment to make a bomb. It’s not that hard.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Understood. We did see additional Russian strikes in Ukraine overnight. You have been an advocate for Ukraine. Do- you heard the Secretary of State. You heard Ambassador Witkoff. Is Putin playing for time? Is he playing President Trump?
SEN. GRAHAM: I don’t know yet, but I do know you played President Trump at your own peril. What Trump did to get Ukraine at the table was tough, and it worked. So if Putin is sincere about wanting peace, accept the ceasefire on the same terms as Ukraine and quit trying to mix the two: ceasefire and peace deal. What I would advise the Trump administration to do is to tell Putin, are you going to accept the ceasefire on the same terms as Ukraine, or not? If you’re not, go back to maximum pressure. I have legislation that will overwhelmingly pass the United States Senate that will crush the Russian economy, and I’m willing to move forward if I have to, but we’re talking about ceasefire, and we’re talking about peace. We weren’t talking about that in the last administration. But to me, Putin’s a predator. The best way to judge Putin is not in a three hour meeting, but 30 years of action, and I see no indication that he’s going to stop being a predator against Ukraine until the pain is too large–
MARGARET BRENNAN: –Do you have–
SEN. GRAHAM: So if he refuses the ceasefire, that tells me all I need to know.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Do you have any reason to believe that President Trump would sign the legislation you say you can use to put more sanctions on Russia? Because he hasn’t put more sanctions on Russia in a significant way at all.
SEN. GRAHAM: I think he’s waiting to see what kind of response he gives from the discussions that Witkoff have, who- I like Steve and I’m glad he’s doing what he’s doing. I think Trump’s going to talk to Putin this week. You can’t solve a problem until you talk the- to the person who’s creating the problem. And the problem is Putin. He’s a predator toward Ukraine and the region at large. I hope President Trump can convince Putin to go to the peace table, to engage in a ceasefire and to find a win, win solution for both countries to stop the killing. You’ll never know until you try. And there’s one person on the planet capable of doing that, and that is President Trump. If Putin is playing Trump, he will regret it.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Do you think Vladimir Putin benefits from the US decision to try to shutter some of the advocates for the free press and agents of the free press, like Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia and Voice of America? As you know, there was an executive order to try to dismantle them.
SEN. GRAHAM: Yeah. Yeah- I don’t know what value these- these ideas have in the 21st century. At the end of the day, I’ll look and evaluate where the Voice of America really is. Radio Free Europe, I know it made a difference in the Cold War, people told us that. So, that’s something to consider. Is it still worth the price? But I like the idea of putting bad guys on their back foot and giving people hope.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah you had been an advocate for soft power, I want to ask you about what’s happening here at home. There were more executive orders from the president this week targeting some of the country’s most prominent law firms, including Paul Weiss. He wants to restrict business activities of the firm, despite a federal judge ruling in a different case that it’s unconstitutional. The President suspended security clearances at the firm. He stripped clearances from lawyers over at Covington & Burling as well because they were involved in representing former Special Counsel Jack Smith. Do you support this?
SEN. GRAHAM: Yeah, I think all of these things- I think Jack Smith was politically motivated. I think the Russian hoax, a lot of people should have gone to jail, and they didn’t. I think the idea that President Trump was an agent of Russia was manufactured. The Steele Dossier was based on lies and falsehoods coming from a source that said he never meant it to be used in the fashion it was used. I think Jack Smith’s effort to prosecute President Trump for January 6 was politically motivated, and people who engage in trying to destroy President Trump, I don’t mind him going after them in a lawful way. I don’t mind restrict–
MARGARET BRENNAN: Is this lawful?
SEN. GRAHAM: You know when Biden took- took- yeah I think so.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Is this good for the US legal system, Senator? Because the President is trying to use government power to punish private business because he didn’t like some of the work they had been doing.
SEN. GRAHAM: Private business aided government power in a fashion to destroy Donald Trump’s life. You know- on our side, nobody in your world gets it, but our people believe that the Justice Department was used as a weapon to destroy Trump’s campaign and his business interests and to ruin his family- that they made up bogus charges and they proceeded in a fashion that was designed to destroy him, politically and personally. I believe that. If these people involved pay a price, they got nobody but themselves to blame, that’s what I believe–
MARGARET BRENNAN: –But these are lawyers working on cases that- you’re making it sound like the work that they take on is somehow part of a conspiracy, and they should be punished for it.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM: Yeah, I think- I think these law firms were pushing legal theories that, to me, were designed for political outcomes more than legal outcomes. You know, we can have a debate about- you know, holding a lawyer accountable for his client’s actions.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM: I generally don’t like that, but these- but these laws firms–
MARGARET BRENNAN: That’s what this sounds like–
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM: –and Jack Smith using the power of government- incorporating these law firms in my- in my view, were trying to disrupt and take down the Republican nominee for president. That this was an orchestrated effort, and Biden only regretted they didn’t do it sooner. So it was politically motivated, and everybody with their fingerprints on it, I hope they pay a price.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Senator, I know- since you’re on the Judiciary Committee–
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM: And my answer’s not going to change–
MARGARET BRENNAN: –and have that oversight- important to get your point of view, but I got to leave it there for today. We’ll be right back.
