Two U.S. Senators Did Not Spend $800K for a One-Night Hotel Stay in Kyiv
By Isis Blachez
What happened: Conservatives are baselessly claiming that Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, spent more than $800,000 on a hotel in Ukraine during their recent trip to Kyiv.
Context: Graham and Blumenthal, both outspoken supporters of Ukraine, met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on May 30, 2025. During their visit, they discussed strengthening Western sanctions against Russia and coordinating peace efforts in the region, according to The Associated Press (NewsGuard Trust Score: 100/100).
A closer look: On June 1, conservative commentators began publishing screenshots from the U.S. government site USASpending.gov showing two expenses for “hotel accommodations” in the amounts of $403,172 and $411,643. The payments were made from the U.S. State Department to the International-Business Center, a Ukrainian organization that helps coordinate hotel accommodations for visiting U.S. officials. Some social media users then attributed all of the spending to Graham’s and Blumenthal’s one-day visit to Kyiv.
On June 3, right-wing commentator Nick Sortor posted a screenshot of USASpending.gov showing the $411,634 transaction and stated, “Lindsey Graham was just PARTYING IN UKRAINE on OUR DIME.” The post garnered 17.8 million views and 15,000 likes in one day.
Five minutes later, X owner Elon Musk reposted Sortor’s post and added: “Why is the hotel bill so high? The room service must be incredible!” Musk’s post received 17.3 million views and 110,000 likes in one day.
Russian-state news outlet RT (Trust Score: 20/100) stated in an X post: “US State Department spent more than $800K on ONE NIGHT of hotel accommodation in Kiev. The same day Senators Lindsey Graham and Dick Blumenthal were in town, coincidentally.” The post accumulated 25,000 views and 620 likes in two days.
Actually: There is no evidence that Graham or Blumenthal spent more than $400,000 each on hotels during their stay in Ukraine.
The screenshots posted in support of the claim show authentic transactions from the State Department to the International-Business Center. However, there is no mention of either senator. Moreover, the contracts have a start date of June 1, 2025, yet Graham and Blumenthal visited Ukraine on May 30, 2025.
USASpending.gov shows that the U.S. has paid the International-Business Center $8.3 million for diplomatic accommodations in Ukraine since 2023.
Responding to the claim in a June 3 X post, Graham called it “false news” and stated: “This isn’t a travel expense report. It’s a monthly contract between the State Department for U.S. diplomats in a war zone – nothing to do with my trip.”
Maria McElwain, Blumenthal’s communications director, told NewsGuard in a June 2025 email, “These ludicrous claims are clearly part of a campaign of misinformation (and falsehoods) that benefits Vladimir Putin.” As for the $815,000 State Department contracts, McElwain said: “This appears to be a retainer for accommodations for any American official on governmental business for the entire month, and certainly not the bill for a single lawmaker.”
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Update: This article was updated on June 6, 2025, to include comment from Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s communications director Maria McElwain.