--- title: Lindsey Graham Slams Trump Administration's Russia Response description: Lindsay Graham said the Trump administration "is slow" when it comes to punitive policies on Russia canonical: https://time.com/4992612/lindsey-graham-trump-russia-sanctions/ author: Alana Abramson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-10-22T15:55:50.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T17:57:19.777Z article:section: Politics og:title: Lindsey Graham: White House Has a 'Blind Spot' on Russia og:description: "Mr. President, go after Russia because they're coming after us" og:url: https://time.com/4992612/lindsey-graham-trump-russia-sanctions/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte9a3c8727c2889ec/6988df5522fb85590fe2300d/gettyimages-849665924.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) (C) speaks to members of the media after the weekly Senate Republican policy luncheon at the Capitol September 19, 2017 in Washington, DC. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Lindsey Graham: White House Has a 'Blind Spot' on Russia twitter:description: "Mr. President, go after Russia because they're coming after us" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte9a3c8727c2889ec/6988df5522fb85590fe2300d/gettyimages-849665924.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Lindsey Graham: Trump Administration Has a 'Blind Spot' on Russia  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Oct 22, 2017 3:55 PM UTC  U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) (C) speaks to members of the media after the weekly Senate Republican policy luncheon at the Capitol September 19, 2017 in Washington, DC. U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) (C) speaks to members of the media after the weekly Senate Republican policy luncheon at the Capitol September 19, 2017 in Washington, DC.Alex Wong—Getty Images  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Oct 22, 2017 3:55 PM UTC Lindsay Graham said Sunday the Trump administration “is slow” when it comes to punitive policies on Russia, citing their failure to implement congressionally approved sanctions on the country. “I think the Trump administration is slow when it comes to Russia. They have a blind spot on Russia I still can’t figure out,” the South Carolina senator said in an interview with Chuck Todd on [NBC’s ](https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/video/graham-trump-administration-has-a-blind-spot-on-russia-1078880835715)_Meet the Press._ Graham was responding to a question from Todd about the White House’s failure to implement a bill on Russian sanctions, which Congress approved in July and President Trump signed in August. Todd noted that the implementation deadline was Oct. 1, but the White House has yet to take any action. “Mr. President, go after Russia because they’re coming after us,” Graham said. Graham did note, however, that he thinks Trump is developing a stronger understanding of these threats. Graham also said the Russian attempts to interfere in the 2016 election will continue to persist throughout the 2018 and 2020 election cycles, and that the country needs to develop a response mechanism. “Russia’s gonna get worse, if not better,” he said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4992612/lindsey-graham-trump-russia-sanctions/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4992612/lindsey-graham-trump-russia-sanctions/"},"headline":"Lindsey Graham: Trump Administration Has a 'Blind Spot' on Russia","datePublished":"2017-10-22T15:55:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:57:19.777Z","description":"\"Mr. President, go after Russia because they're coming after us\"","url":"https://time.com/4992612/lindsey-graham-trump-russia-sanctions/","keywords":["Congress","russia","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte9a3c8727c2889ec/6988df5522fb85590fe2300d/gettyimages-849665924.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/blte9a3c8727c2889ec/6988df5522fb85590fe2300d/gettyimages-849665924.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"U.S. Sen. 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