Lindsey Graham, Trump's fiercest 2016 critic turned unshakable Senate ally, dies at 71 after Kyiv trip
The South Carolina Republican died Saturday after a short illness, hours after returning from a meeting with President Zelensky in Kyiv.
Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator from South Carolina who transformed from one of Donald Trump's fiercest critics into his most loyal congressional defender, died Saturday evening at age 71. The family described the cause as a "short and sudden illness," while The Washington Post, citing witnesses, reported a fatal heart attack.
A last mission to Kyiv
Graham spent his final day working. On Friday he was in Kyiv meeting President Volodymyr Zelensky, a trip that marked his roughly tenth visit to Ukraine since the 2022 Russian invasion. He returned to Washington and was scheduled to appear on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday to discuss the war and U.S. aid, having used his golf-course access to Trump to advocate for military support for Ukraine and tougher sanctions on Russia.
Lindsey Graham, die zaterdag overleed, was sinds 1995 actief in de politieke arena van Washington.
From 'raving madman' to golf partner
The arc of Graham's relationship with Trump defined his final decade in politics. During the 2016 Republican primaries he called Trump a "raving madman," a "jackass," and the "worst candidate in the history of the Republican Party." Trump retaliated by reading Graham's private mobile number aloud at a rally. Graham posted a video destroying his phone with a blender and a golf club.
After Trump won the nomination the rivals reconciled. Graham emerged as a vital White House ally: he defended Trump during the 2019 impeachment, helped him win a second term in 2024, and as Senate Judiciary Committee chairman confirmed over 200 Trump-selected federal judges.
A brief break on January 6
Graham publicly broke with Trump only once after their alliance solidified. On 6 January 2021, after the Capitol storming, he declared: "Count me out. Enough is enough." The stance lasted just two months. By March the men were back playing golf together at Mar-a-Lago.
Trump en ik hebben samen een hele reis afgelegd, maar vandaag zeg ik: reken niet meer op mij. Genoeg is genoeg.
Hawkish convictions, transactional alliances
Graham's foreign policy remained strikingly consistent through decades of shifting partisan winds. A former Air Force lawyer and reservist, he championed military intervention from Iraq in 2003 under George W. Bush through the U.S.-backed Israeli attack on Iran in spring 2026. He called for razing Gaza in October 2023. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mourned him as "one of the greatest friends of Israel" on Sunday.
Wij verliezen een van onze trouwste vrienden.
At home Graham's record was less uniform. He sponsored a 2022 bill banning abortion after 15 weeks, yet once favored legalization for undocumented immigrants and did not always vote with his party. Last month South Carolina Republicans nominated him for a fifth term with 72 percent of the vote. The governor will now appoint a replacement to serve until the 3 November midterms.
What Trump loses
As Senate Budget Committee chairman Graham was instrumental in executing Trump's domestic agenda. His death deprives the president of a bridge to the hawkish, Atlanticist wing of the party (one of the last in Trump's inner circle, De Standaard noted) and removes the most persistent voice pushing for Ukraine aid from inside the president's own orbit. The reconciliation Trump needs for his Iran policy and Russia stance now lacks its most practiced congressional advocate.
