US Senator and close Trump ally Lindsey Graham dies after 'brief and sudden illness'
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- Lindsey Graham died Saturday evening at age 71 after a "brief and sudden illness," with his family requesting privacy, according to a statement from his office.
- Graham had returned from Kyiv the day before his death, having met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday while working on a version of the Russia sanctions bill he said would give "tools to President Trump to end this war."
- Donald Trump posted on social media calling Graham a "true American Patriot" after the senator's death.
- Graham initially called Trump "a race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot" during the 2015 campaign, but later became one of his staunchest backers — voting against Trump's 2021 impeachment conviction and supporting his 2024 election bid.
- Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu paid tribute on Sunday, saying Graham understood "the security of Israel and America are inseparable" and that Israel had lost "one of its greatest friends."
- Graham, a South Carolina Republican elected to the Senate in 2002, served as Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee and was a vocal opponent of the 2021 Afghanistan troop withdrawal, calling it "a sad and dangerous event for US national security."
Why it matters: Graham's death at 71 removes one of Trump's closest Senate allies mid-negotiation on Russia sanctions legislation he was personally drafting for the president, and his Budget Committee chairmanship creates an immediate leadership vacuum on a panel central to passing Trump's domestic priorities.
