Transcription: Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Lindsey Graham in

The next is the transcription of an interview with the Sens. Richard Blucenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, who issued “to face the nation with Margaret Brennan” on July 13, 2025.

Margaret Brennan: Good morning, and welcome to face the nation. We have a lot to get to this morning. Then, let’s start with Senator Lindsey Graham in Clemson, South Carolina, and Senator Richard Blumenthal in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Both just returned from Europe, where they met with Ukrainian President Zelensky. Good morning both senators.

Senator Richard Blumenthal: Good morning.

Senator Lindsey Graham: Good morning.

Margaret Brennan: Senator Graham, I want to start with you. Russia is increasing. They are not ending this war in Ukraine. The NATO general secretary will be here, in Washington, this week and will meet with President Trump, who, according to our reports, is considering new funds for Ukraine. That would be the first time since he assumed the position. What do you know about what is coming?

Sen. Graham: Well, I don’t want to get ahead of the president, but I’m having dinner, along with Senator Blumenthal and other senators, with general secretary Mark Rutte, tomorrow night. A turning point is approaching with respect to the invasion of Ukraine of Russia. For months, President Trump has tried to attract Putin to the La Paz table. He has put tariffs against countries that allow fentanil to come in our country. Another bad behavior. It is left open from the door with respect to Russia. That door is about to close. Dick and I have 85 copatrocinadores in the United States Senate for the sanctions of the Congress with a sled available for President Trump to be after Putin’s economy, and all those countries that underpin the Putin war machine. China, India and Brazil buy oil and oil products and other goods in Russia. That is the money that Putin uses to process war. And this package of the Congress we are seeing would give President Trump the ability to impose 500% tariffs on any country that helps Russia and underpin the Putin war machine. He can mark it up or down. It can go to 0%, 500%. It has maximum flexibility. But we go after people who keep Putin in additional business and sanctions on Russia. This is really a sled available for President Trump to end this war.

Margaret Brennan: Senator Blumenthal, about those sanctions, the president said he hopes that the Senate approves this measure he organizes. And he described to be able to finish it as completely to my option. Very respectfully, let the president do what he wants and decide whether to exercise it or not. I know he has raised some concerns among his fellow Democrats, such as Senators Kane and Senator Coons. How do you assure you that this is as difficult as it promises?

Sen. Blumenthal: This has to be a critical moment for these sanctions and knock down this deck at this time was emphasized by all European allies who were at the meeting to which Senator Graham and I attended in Europe. They are absolutely in solidarity. One after another, in that closed environment, he expressed the opinion that sanctions must be hard and rigorous to change the behavior. And so, the exemption language that we will have in this bill is very similar to the provisions that have existed in the past and similar measures that give the President the ability to act in national security, but also provide supervision of the congress. And, I think that type of security for my Democratic colleagues is very important. But, most importantly, I think, at this time, it is our unit. Senator Graham and I, Republicans and Democrats, who join, European leaders with various points of view, also in the unit. And we want to make use of the seized assets, again, in a unified way. I think that a multifaceted approach here is the only way to bring Putin to the table, because it is a bully. He understands only force.

Margaret Brennan: Just to follow up on that, the seized assets. There are what, $ 300 billion in Europe. There are about $ 5 billion here, in the United States. Do you have the feeling that the president will be willing to take advantage of that, and that European leaders will be willing to take advantage and use that money?

Sen. Blumenthal: Part of the plan that I think will be sought in this meeting that involves the Secretary General is that Ukraine receives assets for NATO and his purchase of those military assets of the United States. But the seized property, the seized assets of Russia, can access Europeans. They are devising a plan to do so, at least for a part of those assets, billions of dollars and the interest derived from them. Very, very important resources for Ukraine. And the $ 5 billion that the United States can also be accessed, and I think it’s time to do it.

Margaret Brennan: And we will talk to one of the congressmen who gathered that law to confiscate those assets later in the program. Senator Graham, I want to ask you on the battlefield and when it comes to weapons. Jim Laporta de News has learned a recent defense intelligence evaluation shows the ukraine deficit in artillery and drones will lead to marked Russian territorial gains in 2026, and Russia won seven to a superiority of fire power for this winter. How can you get what they need if Congress will not approve, in the Chamber, any new financing? Is it what Senator Blucenthal has just presented?

Sen. Graham: Well, be attentive for tomorrow’s announcement. The idea that the United States sells weapons to help Ukraine is at stake. We have given Ukraine a lot. We give them the money, we give them military help. Now we have a mineral agreement with Ukraine that is worth billions of dollars. Therefore, I do not want to get ahead of the president, but I am not attentive to the seized assets. Europeans want to limit interest in assets to go to Ukraine. Secretary Besent wants to go further. Are attentive to a plan to go after the assets seized more aggressively. They are attentive to a plan where the United States will begin selling our European allies huge amounts of weapons that can benefit Ukraine. Putin has calculated that we would get tired, and Europe would get tired. He made a big mistake. NATO is bigger and stronger, and we are more committed to making sure that Ukraine does not take force. Then, Congress is about to approve the most consistent sanction package in the country’s history. He will give President Trump Tools that he does not have today, a literal deck. And the great criminals here are China, India and Brazil. India buy oil from Russia Cheap and resale. That is despicable. I have spoken with President Trump. He said last week, it’s time to move. He has tried to attract Putin to the table. But my goal is to put an end to this war, and the only way you are going to end this war is to get people who underpin Putin to make them choose between the US economy and help Putin. And you can only have a negotiator, and that will be President Trump, with the maximum flexibility to end this war. China, India and Brazil, you are about to hurt big if you continue to help Putin.

Margaret Brennan: But the senator, respectfully, the president’s rhetoric has changed this week in Russia. He is making clear that his patience is very thin. But, it has, at this time, within a little less than $ 4 billion in the presidential reduction authority. You don’t need to ask Congress. You don’t need to ask Europeans for that money. He has it if he wants to touch it. Wouldn’t it be a stronger signal if you just sent those weapons or if it had emerged?

Sen. Graham: Well, the $ 4 billion and not enough. I hope that authority exercises. But the game, with respect to the invasion of Putin of Russia, is about to change. I hope, in the next few days, you will see weapons that flow at a record level to help Ukraine defend themselves. I hope, in the next few days, that there are rates and sanctions available for President Trump that he had never had before. I hope, in the next few days, more support from Europe with respect to efforts to help Ukraine. Putin made a calculation error here. For six months, President Trump tried to attract Putin to the table. The attacks have risen, not low. One of the greatest calculation errors that Putin has made is to play Trump. And you just look, in the next few days and weeks, there will be a massive effort to take Putin to the table. And for those who are helping it, China, buying cheap Russian oil and have no responsibility, those days have ended.

Margaret Brennan: Senator Blumenthal, in Ukraine, North Korea has been sending troops, as they know, to fight for Russia in Ukraine. The main diplomat of Russia was meeting with Kim Jong Un. We know that the missile technology that Russia is providing them is, more or less, your payment for sending bodies to fight. Will that make a measurable difference in the North Korean nuclear program? Is there more a threat today for the United States for that?

Sen. Blumenthal: The threat of cooperation in that score in the sending of missile technology to North Korea, as well as support for Iran, which could potentially come from Russia, is great evidence of why we need to be strong with our allies against this axis. It still exists. Success against Iran’s nuclear program should not make us complacent on the dangers of proliferating nuclear arms. And, absolutely, yes, we should be going down, not only in Russia but also in North Korea, and our plan must be disadvous this type of cooperation of nuclear weapons, so our work with our allies is so important. While they went around the room, these are the main European leaders, all of them, gathered last Thursday in Rome, thanking us for being there, Senator Graham and I, and General Kellogg, representing Trump. This moment of unit must be seized, and the moment is absolutely critical. President Zelensky has been robust and unconditional, but his people are being killed by bombs and drones. Kidnapped children. We really need to express the strength of the United States, because only force can lead Putin to the table.

Margaret Brennan: Senator Graham, on another subject here, you have been a defender of the United States allies that were left behind in Afghanistan after that chaotic withdrawal 2021 by the last administration. On Friday, the State Department dismissed staff in the department that helps place those refugees and other allies in the United States. Two sources with direct knowledge told News that there are around 1,400 Afghan allies with connections with the pentagon, with connections with American intelligence, and are trapped there. They don’t know what is happening later. Can you prevent them from sending them back to the Taliban?

Sen. Graham: Yes, I don’t think there is any desire to send people who helped us in Afghanistan back to Taliban control. That will not happen. As for cutting the State Department, if you tell me that we cannot reduce the number of people working in the State Department and still administer it effectively, I do not buy that. We can do both.

Margaret Brennan: Well, there are some questions about who will help prevent them from returning to Afghanistan, so I was asking you that if you are going to advocate by name. Senator Blumenthal, I believe in the Judicial Committee, I think. News has reported yesterday that the attorney general, PAM Bondi, dismissed 20 DOJ employees who worked in cases of classified documents and the investigations of January 6. S And they expect more shots. These are career officers and lawyers who do not choose their tasks. They are given. Is there anything that Congress can do to protect some of these officials?

Sen. Blumenthal: Margaret, that is a really important question, because Pam Bondi has politicized so much and put together the Department of Justice and now fired these professionals who have dedicated their lives to the Department of Justice, it is only a facet of continuous policy. And yes, Congress should be investigating. The Judicial Committee should immediately begin your investigation. But, I am asking for an investigation by the Inspector General, not only of these shots, but also of the fall of a PRO assures the Utah doctor who went half the trial for conspiracy charges, fraud against the government, in relation to a Covid vaccine scheme, apparently, at the request of politicians who were deeply angry at the magic issue there. And I firmly believe that Congress must now investigate

Margaret Brennan: Senator Graham, do you want to respond quickly to those accusations of politicized management in the Department of Justice?

Sen. Graham: Yes, everyone lost a lot. The Department of Justice was used to destroy President Trump, his family, and tried to change the elections presenting a lot of Bs charges against him for years. Let’s clean that disorder. As for Pam Bondi, I have all the confidence in the world that will do his job. And if someone has been fired, they have rights under the Civil Service Law to say that it was unfairly made. But, I almost had the idea that people are now suddenly concerned about the politicization of the Department of Justice, while everyone sat silently during all those years. Literally, the Department of Justice, Bajo Biden, tried to change the elections by wasting Trump based on a lot of Bs.

Margaret Brennan: Well, there are massive shots, that’s why I was asking them, Lord. Senators, thanks for joining us for a bipartisan interview, until that last section. I appreciate it. Face The Nation will return in a minute. Stay with us.

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