South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said he would not support the National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2024 and instead said he supported a recent foreign loan program suggested by former President Donald Trump.
Graham lauded Trump's suggestion in a Monday night X post.
"The supplemental aid package should be a loan to the countries in question, as suggested by President Trump," Graham wrote. "A loan on friendly terms allows America, who is deeply in debt, a chance to get our money back and changes the paradigm of how we help others."
The South Carolina senator said Trump was correct to think "outside the box" regarding foreign aid.
"I hope the House will take another meaningful look at border security so that it can pass the Senate," he continued. "I also hope the House will turn the supplemental aid packaging into a loan instead of a grant."
"Until that day comes, I will be voting no," Graham added.
Graham also referred to the recently bipartisan negotiated border bill as a "complete debacle" and discussed his thoughts on the matter.
"We need to find a solution to the border crisis, not ideas that fall short," Graham wrote. "As to the bipartisan bill negotiated, there were many positive aspects, but there was more to be done."
"However, when it came to changing the bill, the fix was in. There was no desire by either Senate leadership team to have a robust debate like we did with the 'Gang of Eight' bill, which lasted weeks, because they wanted to move on to Ukraine," the South Carolina senator said in reference to the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013.
Graham reiterated the importance of providing assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
"Pulling the plug on Ukraine only invites further aggression in other areas of the world, particularly from China," he continued. "However, as I have been consistently saying, we must deal with our border first. The border is a national security nightmare. Drugs are flowing at record levels across our border, there have been over 7 million crossings and there is an all-time high of people on the terrorist watch list coming into our country. The border must be addressed before we can move to other areas."
On Saturday, Trump suggested foreign aid should be restructured to loans in a Truth Social post.
"FROM THIS POINT FORWARD, ARE YOU LISTENING U.S. SENATE(?), NO MONEY IN THE FORM OF FOREIGN AID SHOULD BE GIVEN TO ANY COUNTRY UNLESS IT IS DONE AS A LOAN, NOT JUST A GIVEAWAY. IT CAN BE LOANED ON EXTRAORDINARILY GOOD TERMS, LIKE NO INTEREST AND AN UNLIMITED LIFE, BUT A LOAN NEVERTHELESS," Trump wrote. "THE DEAL SHOULD BE (CONTINGENT!) THAT THE U.S. IS HELPING YOU, AS A NATION, BUT IF THE COUNTRY WE ARE HELPING EVER TURNS AGAINST US, OR STRIKES IT RICH SOMETIME IN THE FUTURE, THE LOAN WILL BE PAID OFF AND THE MONEY RETURNED TO THE UNITED STATES."
"WE SHOULD NEVER GIVE MONEY ANYMORE WITHOUT THE HOPE OF A PAYBACK, OR WITHOUT ‘STRINGS’ ATTACHED. THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA SHOULD BE ‘STUPID’ NO LONGER!" Trump concluded.
