--- title: Donald Trump: Lindsey Graham Slams Trump on Russia description: Members of Donald Trump's own party were not so enamored with his proposal to form a cyber security unit with Vladimir Putin canonical: https://time.com/4850698/lindsey-graham-donald-trump-vladimir-putin-cyber-security-unit/ author: Alana Abramson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-07-09T17:40:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T09:22:22.877Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Wants to 'Work Constructively' With Russia. Some Disagree. og:description: "Its not the dumbest idea I've ever heard, but its pretty close," said Sen. Graham og:url: https://time.com/4850698/lindsey-graham-donald-trump-vladimir-putin-cyber-security-unit/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7bd396a2e9d78d8d/6988cc0686f68eb0ac6e48fc/lindsey-graham-senator-republican-healthcare-bill-vote.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 6327 og:image:height: 3559 og:image:alt: Sen. Lindsey Graham Hears From Constituents During Townhall In Columbia, South Carolina og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Wants to 'Work Constructively' With Russia. Some Disagree. twitter:description: "Its not the dumbest idea I've ever heard, but its pretty close," said Sen. Graham twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7bd396a2e9d78d8d/6988cc0686f68eb0ac6e48fc/lindsey-graham-senator-republican-healthcare-bill-vote.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump Wants to Form a Cyber Security Unit With Russia. Some Members of His Party Don't Agree > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. Senior correspondent Philip Elliott brings sharp context to the issues driving the capital, connecting the decisions made in Washington to the institutions, industries and people they affect. It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=7f1d1fbd-4189-4580-86bc-508d51108366&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Twice a week | time.com/newsletters, September 2026 | | Written by | Philip Elliott, Senior Correspondent | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership The policy influence ecosystem. A policy-focused audience spanning government, public affairs, advocacy, law, research, political media, and the institutions that make, interpret and respond to public policy. ### TIME D.C. Brief: key statements * D.C. Brief is edited by TIME journalists. Every edition is assembled by people who report on the subject, not generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923, and its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting. Readers can trust what they read. * D.C. Brief is free. Readers select it, along with any of TIME's other newsletters, at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=7f1d1fbd-4189-4580-86bc-508d51108366&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). * TIME's newsletter network reaches more than 1.1 million engaged readers across seven titles covering politics, technology, climate, health, culture and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/subscribe?i=7f1d1fbd-4189-4580-86bc-508d51108366&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What is TIME's politics newsletter? D.C. Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=7f1d1fbd-4189-4580-86bc-508d51108366&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: In Their Words: Republicans on Trump's Meeting with Putin [Watch (HLS stream): In Their Words: Republicans on Trump's Meeting with Putin](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/uBo88CZy.m3u8) (2:09)  _Published 2017-07-10. Republican leaders react to President Trump's meeting with President Putin at the G20 Summit._  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Jul 9, 2017 5:40 PM UTC  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Jul 9, 2017 5:40 PM UTC [President Trump](http://time.com/4849232/g20-summit-donald-trump-vladimir-putin-body-language/) suggested Sunday that, after pressing [Russian President Vladimir Putin](http://time.com/4850434/vladimir-putin-g20-summit-meeting-trump/) twice about the possibility of Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election during their meeting at the G20, which Putin “vehemently” denied, it was time for the United States to move forward with Russia, possibly working together on a cyber security initiative to combat election hacking. But members of Trump’s own party are not so enamored with that idea. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/884013689736769536) > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/884016887692234753) “It’s not the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard, but its pretty close,” Sen. Lindsey Graham said on [NBC’s _Meet the Press_ ](http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/video/graham-working-with-russia-not-the-dumbest-idea-but-close-989079107596)when asked by Chuck Todd about the cyber security unit. “They \[Russia\] did try to attack our election system, they were successful in many ways, and the more you do this the more people are suspicious about you and Russia.” Florida Senator Marco Rubio [analogized on Twitter](https://twitter.com/marcorubio/status/884022979004428289) that asking Putin to work on a cyber security unit was akin to partnering with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on chemical weapons, which he has been accused of using, but has repeatedly denied. “While reality & pragmatism requires that we engage Vladimir Putin, he will never be a trusted ally or a reliable constructive partner,” [Rubio tweeted. ](https://twitter.com/marcorubio/status/884021848148672512) And Arizona Senator John McCain jokingly suggested that Putin would be a perfect partner in this initiative, since he instrumented the hacking. “I am sure that Vladimir Putin could be of enormous assistance in that effort,” he said on _Face the Nation._ Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, who said on ABC’s _This Week with George Stephanopoulos_ that the cyber security unit is a “significant accomplishment” for the President, declined to answer directly when asked if Trump accepted Putin’s denial of election interference. But Trump’s Chief of Staff, Reince Priebus, said on _Fox News Sunday_ that the President “absolutely” did not believe Putin’s denial. “Yes, he believes that Russia probably committed all of these acts that we’ve been told of, but he also believes that other countries also participated in this,” Priebus said. ## Transcript Think he will be empowering the Russians and betraying democracy at The president handled it We can't trust Russia and we won't ever trust Russia. It's not the dumbest idea I've ever heard, but it's pretty close. He gave a really good speech in Poland, President Trump did, and he had, what I think is a disastrous Meeting with President Putin. Two hours and fifteen minutes of meetings, Tillerson and Trump are ready to forgive and forget when it comes to cyberattacks on the American election of 2016. Nobody's saying, Mr. President, the Russians changed the outcome. You won, fair and square, but they did try to attack our election system. They were successful in many ways, And the more you do this the more people are suspicious about you and Russia . >> The president, absolutely, did not believe the denial of President Putin. What the president did is he immediately came into the meeting, talked about Russian meddling in the U. S. election, went after that issue at least two separate times . >> From a cyber standpoint, we need to get together with Russia. We need to tell them, You know what we think should happen, shouldn't happen and if we talk to them about it, hopefully we can cut this out and get them to stop. It doesn't mean we- Do you think that they can be trusted? Ever take our eyes off the ball. It doesn't mean we ever take our eyes off the ball. It doesn't mean we ever trust Russia. We can't trust Russia, and we won't ever trust Russia, but you keep those that you don't trust closer so that you can always keep an eye on them, and keep them in check, and I think that's what we're trying to do with Russia right now. What he did was bring up right away the election meddling, and he did that for a reason. One, he wanted him to basically look him in the eye Let him know that yes, we know you meddled in our elections. Yes we know you did it and cut it out. And I think President Putin did exactly what we thought he would do, which is deny it. So this is Russia trying to save face, and they can't. They can't I think what we should be focused on is that the president handled it brilliantly. Look at what was discussed and what was accomplished. He fully addressed the election situation, he focused on the ceasefire in Syria, which is a major accomplishment. He talked about Ukraine, and he talked about North Korea. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4850698/lindsey-graham-donald-trump-vladimir-putin-cyber-security-unit/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4850698/lindsey-graham-donald-trump-vladimir-putin-cyber-security-unit/"},"headline":"Trump Wants to Form a Cyber Security Unit With Russia. Some Members of His Party Don't Agree","datePublished":"2017-07-09T17:40:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-08T09:22:22.877Z","description":"\"Its not the dumbest idea I've ever heard, but its pretty close,\" said Sen. Lindsey Graham","url":"https://time.com/4850698/lindsey-graham-donald-trump-vladimir-putin-cyber-security-unit/","keywords":["politics","Donald Trump","Lindsey Graham","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7bd396a2e9d78d8d/6988cc0686f68eb0ac6e48fc/lindsey-graham-senator-republican-healthcare-bill-vote.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alana Abramson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7bd396a2e9d78d8d/6988cc0686f68eb0ac6e48fc/lindsey-graham-senator-republican-healthcare-bill-vote.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Sen. Lindsey Graham Hears From Constituents During Townhall In Columbia, South Carolina","caption":"Sen. Lindsey Graham Hears From Constituents During Townhall In Columbia, South Carolina","creditText":"Sean Rayford—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/politics/","name":"politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4850698/lindsey-graham-donald-trump-vladimir-putin-cyber-security-unit/","name":"Trump Wants to Form a Cyber Security Unit With Russia. Some Members of His Party Don't Agree"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"In Their Words: Republicans on Trump's Meeting with Putin","description":"Republican leaders react to President Trump's meeting with President Putin at the G20 Summit.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/uBo88CZy/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-07-10T15:40:25.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/uBo88CZy.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4850698/lindsey-graham-donald-trump-vladimir-putin-cyber-security-unit/","duration":"PT2M9S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4850698/lindsey-graham-donald-trump-vladimir-putin-cyber-security-unit/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```