A high-stakes second meeting between former U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is scheduled to take place at the White House on Tuesday, timed to coincide with the funeral of longtime South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, a leading congressional Ukraine supporter who died unexpectedly earlier this month from an aortic tear. This upcoming sit-down comes on the heels of a surprising policy shift from far-right influencer Laura Loomer, a figure with close access to Trump, who reversed her prior stance on Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine after a firsthand trip to the war-torn nation.
Graham’s legacy has anchored Zelenskyy’s latest Washington visit: the senator’s final act in public service was a surprise trip to Kyiv, where he negotiated a bipartisan sanctions package targeting major buyers of Russian fossil fuel exports. The legislation, which already boasts broad cross-party support in the Senate, aims to punish nations that continue purchasing Russian oil, gas and other energy exports by imposing steep tariffs on their goods. It would also place direct sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin, top Russian political and military officials, Moscow’s key financial institutions, and major Russian energy projects. Republican congressional leaders are pushing to advance the bill this week, before the upper chamber adjourns for its annual August recess, even as the Senate juggles multiple competing legislative priorities.
Loomer, a far-right commentator long known for provocative, incendiary social media content and her consistent access to Trump, recently traveled across Ukraine where she witnessed Russian missile and artillery barrages firsthand, and sat down for an interview with Zelenskyy. In the wake of that visit, she publicly acknowledged she had been “bamboozled by Russian propaganda” regarding the invasion. Loomer told the Associated Press she has already spoken with Trump about her trip and her conversation with Zelenskyy, and expects to meet with the former president in person upon her return to the U.S. “It’s looking good for Ukraine, right? Going into this meeting next week at the Oval Office is looking pretty good,” she said of the upcoming Trump-Zelenskyy talks.
Ahead of the meeting, Zelenskyy issued a stark new warning about expanding Russian-Iranian military cooperation. The Ukrainian leader claimed Russia is sharing captured satellite imagery of U.S. military bases in the Persian Gulf with Iran, and that there is a “clear correlation” between the shared intelligence and subsequent Iranian strikes targeting those positions. “None of us in the world should turn a blind eye to one very simple fact: Evil always seeks ways to make things worse and spread further,” Zelenskyy said earlier this month.
Trump pushed back on these claims during comments to reporters aboard Air Force One while traveling to Michigan on Monday, downplaying the scope and impact of any Russian support for Iran. “I don’t think they’ve been doing it, certainly not at a high level,” he said. “And if they have, it has been very un-impactful.” Even so, the former president confirmed he would raise the issue directly with Putin during their future discussions.
This meeting marks the second sit-down between Trump and Zelenskyy this month. Their first encounter took place on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, where Trump announced a major new policy shift: the U.S. would grant Ukraine a license to domestically produce Patriot air defense systems, a long-sought request from Kyiv that would help Ukraine counter relentless Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure. “[Zelenskyy and I] have actually developed a good relationship,” Trump said at the time, noting that while Patriot systems are costly to manufacture and in high global demand, the U.S. would support Ukraine’s domestic production efforts, allowing Ukraine to begin producing the systems “pretty quickly.”
Beyond his White House meeting, Zelenskyy has a packed itinerary during his Washington trip. Following Graham’s funeral at Washington National Cathedral on Tuesday, he will travel to the U.S. Capitol to hold closed-door meetings with an array of senators, according to a senior congressional source who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the private nature of the planned talks.