Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) opted against supporting the defense supplemental security bill when it finally came to the floor on Tuesday, despite advocating for months to pass the legislation.

Graham, a close ally of former President Donald Trump, is one of the Republican Party’s staunchest supporters of U.S. involvement in Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s military invasion. He was an adviser in the bipartisan border security talks for the GOP side before that deal fell apart, eventually becoming an opponent of the bill for lacking a border component. 

“This whole process has been a complete debacle,” Graham said on the Senate floor late Monday, criticizing House Republicans and Senate leadership for their respective approaches to the defense supplemental. 

While the South Carolina senator maintained his support for Ukraine in his floor speech, he explained that he was voting against the bill because “we must deal with our border first.”

He also called on the House to amend the bill, which passed the Senate sans border legislation by a 70-29 vote early Tuesday morning, to heed Trump’s suggestion to provide Ukraine the aid as a conditional loan. 

“The supplemental aid package should be a loan to the countries in question, as suggested by President Trump,” Graham said. “A loan on friendly terms allows America, who is deeply in debt, a chance to get our money back and changes the paradigm of how we help others. President Trump is right to insist that we think outside the box.”

“I hope the House will take another meaningful look at border security so that it can pass the Senate. I also hope the House will turn the supplemental aid package into a loan instead of a grant,” he added. “Until that day comes, I will be voting no.”

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Trump, who is the GOP’s 2024 presidential front-runner, wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform over the weekend that no U.S. “foreign aid should be given to any country unless it is done as a loan.” The former president said that the loan could be made on “EXTRAORDINARILY GOOD TERMS,” including with no interest and “unlimited life,” though there would be some strings attached.

Graham, a longtime friend and ally of the late Arizona Sen. John McCain, is one of the Senate’s biggest defense hawks despite his Trump ties, making his vote against the supplemental noteworthy.