(Washington) US President Donald Trump’s main ally, influential Republican Senator from South Carolina Lindsey Graham, died on Saturday at the age of 71.
Graham, known for his work on foreign policy, has defended the Iraq war and in recent years called on the Trump and Biden administrations to support Kyiv’s fight against Russian invasion. Donald Trump called “one of the greatest men and senators” he has ever known.
“On the evening of Saturday, July 11, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham passed away following a short and sudden illness,” his office announced on X.
Her “family thanks those who are praying for her and asks that her privacy be respected during this extremely difficult time,” the statement said.
President Donald Trump paid tribute to the senator on his social network Pravda. “Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the greatest men and senators I have ever known, is dead! He always worked and was a true American patriot. Lindsey will be greatly missed!!!” Mr. Trump wrote.
SCREENSHOT OF DONALD TRUMP’S SOCIAL ACCOUNT “PRAVDA”
Graham unsuccessfully ran for president in 2016, warning at the time that Republicans should not support Trump, whom he called a man who was “xenophobic, religiously bigoted and inflaming racial tensions.”
Their relationship was damaged by the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, when Graham told fellow Republicans, “Don’t count on me, enough is enough” — although the senator later voted against convicting Trump during his impeachment trial.
After Trump took office, Graham reconnected with him and ultimately supported his re-election bid.
PHOTO BY JONATHAN ERNST, REUTERS ARCHIVE
Donald Trump and Lindsey Graham, 2019.
“Great Friend of Israel”
Graham was also a strong supporter of Israel and an ardent supporter of war with Iran.
Israel has lost “one of its greatest friends,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday as he paid tribute to the American senator.
“Lindsay understood that the security of Israel and the security of the United States are inseparable,” Mr. Netanyahu said in a statement. “America has lost a great patriot. I have lost a dear friend.”
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said he was “shocked and heartbroken” by the news. “Senator Graham was a model of moral clarity and a true leader of the partnership between the United States and Israel,” he noted on X.
“We will never forget how he supported the people of Israel during our most difficult times, and we will remain forever grateful to him for his sense of justice, truth and loyalty,” he continued.
“Indispensable”
Graham was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994 and was later elected to the Senate in 2002. He was subsequently re-elected to the Senate in 2008, 2014 and 2020, and most recently chaired the Senate Budget Committee.
PHOTO BY JEFFREY COLLINS, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES.
Lindsey Graham speaks after her victory in the Republican primary on June 9, 2026 in Columbia, South Carolina.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster called Graham “irreplaceable.” “The staunchest defender of South Carolina and the United States, and a loyal and steadfast friend,” he added on X.
Graham worked as a military lawyer and rose to the rank of Air Force colonel, an experience that influenced his interventionist foreign policy stance.
In 2002, he voted for military intervention in Iraq after the 9/11 attacks and subsequently supported a long US presence in Afghanistan.
Graham has frequently criticized President Barack Obama’s foreign policy, calling him a “weak enemy of evil” in 2015 over his negotiations on the Iran nuclear deal.
PHOTO OF THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE, PROVIDED BY AGENCY FRANCE-PRESSE
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and Lindsey Graham on Friday in Kyiv
On Friday he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, where he reportedly supported tougher economic sanctions against Russia and its allies.
“He has visited Ukraine ten times since the start of the large-scale Russian invasion and stood by our people when it was needed most… The United States and the world have lost a decisive leader,” Mr. Zelensky responded in a Facebook post on Sunday.