Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a Republican foreign policy hawk and one of President Donald Trump’s closest Senate allies, has died from what his office called “a brief and sudden illness,” CNN reported.
The spokesperson provided no further details.
“Senator Graham’s family appreciates prayers at this time and asks for privacy during this incredibly difficult period,” the spokesperson said.
Graham, who turned 71 last week, was seeking a fifth term in this fall’s midterm elections. He died shortly after returning from his 10th trip to Ukraine since Russia’s 2022 invasion.
Trump paid tribute early Sunday on Truth Social, calling Graham “one of the greatest people and Senators I have ever known.”
“He was always working, and was a true American Patriot,” Trump wrote. “Lindsey will be greatly missed. Details and arrangements to follow. So sad!”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said in a statement posted on X that his “heart is heavy” over the death of his friend and colleague.
Thune praised Graham’s long service in the Air Force and Congress, saying it took him to regions around the world. He described Graham as a strong advocate for the United States and an ally of countries that support freedom.
Numerous presidents and heads of state relied on Graham’s counsel, Thune said.
Graham fought passionately for the Palmetto State as its senior senator, Thune said, and his influence on the federal judiciary, national defense and South Carolina “will be felt for generations.”
Thune said he and his wife, Kimberley, were praying for Graham’s friends and family.
From Trump critic to “North Star”
Graham was first elected to the Senate in 2002 and chaired the Judiciary and Budget committees. He entered politics in the early 1990s after working as a city and county attorney in South Carolina. Before that, he served for six years as a U.S. Air Force prosecutor and defense attorney.
Graham was still an undergraduate when his parents died within 15 months of each other. He took responsibility for his 13-year-old sister, Darline, whom he later adopted.
Graham briefly sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2015 and became one of Trump’s fiercest GOP critics. He called Trump the “most flawed nominee in the history of the Republican Party” and refused to vote for him in the 2016 general election.
That relationship changed after a March 2017 meeting with the newly inaugurated president. By Trump’s second term, Graham had become one of his most trusted Senate voices and once described himself as the president’s “North Star.”
A hawk on Ukraine, Iran, Israel and Iraq
Graham was among Israel’s staunchest defenders in Congress, championing billions of dollars in security assistance and making repeated trips to the region after Oct. 7. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had lost “one of its greatest friends.”
Graham was one of the Senate’s most hard-line voices on Iran, opposing the 2015 nuclear agreement and calling for preemptive strikes as early as 2010. When war with Iran began in February 2026, he supported the U.S.-Israeli strikes and compared the Iranian government to Nazi Germany.
He pushed persistently for U.S. military assistance to Ukraine and sanctions against Russia. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said he had met with Graham twice over the past week, said he was “deeply saddened” by the senator’s death.
Lindsey was a true defender of freedom and the values that make our world safer. — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Graham backed the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the 2007 troop surge, serving brief reserve stints in the country. He also deployed to Afghanistan as a sitting member of Congress and opposed a full U.S. withdrawal, warning that the Biden administration was “paving the way for another 9/11.”
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