"South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham has a hard-earned skip in his step. After nearly a decade of obsequious, showy servility to the president he once warned would be the death knell of the Republican Party, Graham is getting what he wants: an interventionist Republican president merrily drawing up a list of baddies to take down, starting with captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro."
"Graham was one of the first to recognize, long ago, that Donald Trump's policy views are determined mostly by the flattery of the last person to speak with him before a decision. For both of Trump's presidencies, Graham has worked to flatter Trump at every turn, and to be the final person to do so. While Graham has his hands in a lot of policy jars, his passion is an interventionist foreign policy."
"Graham couldn't contain his glee on Sunday aboard Air Force One as he stood inches from Trump, shortly after the Venezuela operation. The president was rattling through a list of countries in the Americas that would go down next. Mexico? "You have to do something with Mexico." What about a mission in Colombia? "It sounds good to me." And as for the big, bad hemispheric archnemesis of 70 years Cuba: "Looks like it's ready for fall.""
Senator Lindsey Graham cultivated influence by consistently flattering President Trump to advance an interventionist foreign-policy agenda. After years of servility, Graham now sees an interventionist president compiling targets in the hemisphere, beginning with captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Graham has sought to be the final voice before Trump decides and has prioritized interventionist approaches over noninterventionist rivals. Those rivals are embodied by an ascendant America First wing represented by Senator Rand Paul. Aboard Air Force One after the Venezuela operation, Trump listed potential actions against Mexico, Colombia, and Cuba, and Graham reacted with visible glee.
Read at Slate Magazine
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