‘A lot of good policy initiatives and a little too much drama’: Sen. Graham rates Trump’s first week in office

Jan. 28--A first full week of President Donald Trump's time in the White House could be summed up simply by Sen. Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina: "A lot of good policy initiatives and a little too much drama to me."

Graham attended the 99th annual Greater Aiken Chamber of Commerce's dinner Friday night, where he spoke on Trump, taxes, Russia, Syria, the Savannah River Site and former S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley's new role as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

On Trump, Graham lauded the president for signing an executive order to expedite the construction of the Keystone Pipeline -- a project that would move 800,000 barrels of oil from Alberta, Canada, to refineries along the U.S. Gulf Coast. He also stood behind GOP lawmakers' efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, and agreed with Trump to put a hold on allowing refugees from certain countries come from the U.S. until they can be "better vetted."

He also stood by Trump's executive order to build a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico, but differed on the payment method.

"... A 20 percent tariff on Mexico would be a disaster for our economy -- our economies are intertwined," said Graham, alluding to one stated option to paying for the construction of the wall. "Sixty percent of the vegetables we consume come from Mexico. ... I'm willing for Americans to pay for it, because we need to protect our borders."

Graham also differed on Trump's plans to strengthen ties between the current administration and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Before leaving office, President Barack Obama ordered sanctions on Russia in a sweeping response to intelligence reports that Russia meddled in the 2016 election and hacked into the Democratic National Committee and the email accounts of aides of then-presidential candidate and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Graham called ending Russian sanctions a "hugely bad idea."

"It was Democrats today, it could be Republicans tomorrow," he said. "You cannot let any foreign government be forgiven for trying to undermine our election. I don't think they changed the outcome, but they did try to interfere. I want more sanctions on Russia. They are trying to break the back of democracy all over the world. ... Putin's a bully, a thug a murderer. He kills opposition people in his own country. ... I want him to pay a price. I can tell you this, you let him get away with this, the worst is yet to come."

Graham said when Trump speaks with Putin, he hopes Trump holds a "firm line," adding prior administrations had both miscalculated Putin and been weak toward him.

Graham has also been critical of Russia for its ties to Syrian President Bashar Al Assad.

This week, reports confirmed Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, a Democrat from Hawaii, made an unannounced trip to Lebanon and Syria, where she met with Assad.

Graham said he'd never been more disappointed with a member of Congress than her visit to Syria.

"She gave legitimacy to the butcher of Damascus -- Assad, who's a puppet of the Iranians, who slaughtered 400,000 people," he said. "So, she clearly does not understand it is not in our national security interest to leave Assad in power, because you're giving Syria to the Iranians. The last thing in the world I want is for the Ayatollah of Iran to be more powerful. A huge mistake on her part."

Graham also touched on the Savannah River Site in Aiken County, saying Trump's pick to lead the Department of Energy -- former Texas Gov. Rick Perry -- "is coming" to the site.

"He's going to see it for himself; we're at a crossroads on MOX. It costs too much, but there's not a viable replacement," Graham said. "My goal is to make sure that MOX works. It's more efficient. We can lower the costs, but not abandon the idea of turning these nuclear weapons into plowshares."

The site's missions are mostly under the umbrella of the Environmental Management office within the DOE. Major clean-up operations include the processing of 36 million gallons of radioactive waste, primarily by turning it into glass. In budget proposals, Barack Obama had recommended the termination of the MOX project and around $270 million would be allocated to begin shutting down the facility.

"I want Rick Perry to see all the good things we do at the Savannah River National Lab," Graham said. "I look forward to showing Rick Perry everything we do at Savannah River Site, and I think that will sell itself."

On Haley, Graham said though he did not watch her first address to reporters from the U.N. headquarters, he is "very proud of her" and is looking forward to working with her to reform the U.N.

Looking forward, Graham said the Republican Party has a bright future and needs to come together in order to work toward the party's core beliefs: lower taxes and less government.

"Trump beat me, I accept defeat," Graham said of the Republican Party Primary. "I want to help him."

Graham said he's tired of the America that's "weak in the eyes of our enemies and unreliable in the eyes of our friends."

Maayan Schechter is the digital news editor of the Aiken Standard. Reach her at 803-644-2395.

___

(c)2017 the Aiken Standard (Aiken, S.C.)

Visit the Aiken Standard (Aiken, S.C.) at www.aikenstandard.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.