U.S. senator Lindsey Graham likely died after aorta rupture, medical examiner says
Senator Lindsey Graham, one of U.S. President Donald Trump's closest allies in Congress who traveled the globe to advocate for a more aggressive U.S. foreign
Senator Lindsey Graham, one of U.S. President Donald Trump's closest allies in Congress who traveled the globe to advocate for a more aggressive U.S. foreign policy, died after a rupture in his aorta, according to a preliminary medical examiner's finding shared by his office. Also read | U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham passes away at 71 The rupture was related to the hardening of Graham's arteries. An official cause of death will be disclosed after toxicological and microscopic testing. Graham, a prominent South Carolina Republican and former Air Force lawyer who served in Congress for more than three decades, had turned 71 years old just two days before dying on Saturday night (July 11, 2026). His office had originally said he had suffered from a "brief and sudden illness." Trump, who talked to Graham frequently, said he was "like a member of the family. It's very tough." He said on NBC that Graham had called him on Saturday night (July 11) after returning from a trip to Ukraine and "sounded a little bit tired, but perfect." The President ordered that flags across the country be flown at half-staff until next Saturday (July 18) evening. A noted foreign policy hawk, Graham was one of the most influential figures in Washington on international affairs, and he advised Mr. Trump on matters such as the Iran war and Russia. On Friday (July 10), Graham had announced an agreement with the Trump administration to move forward on a package of Russia sanctions. As chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, Graham also had a central role during Trump's second term as Republicans pushed major legislation on party-line votes while holding a narrow 53-47 majority in the chamber. Under South Carolina law, Republican Gov. Henry McMaster will appoint a temporary replacement for Graham, who was seeking a fifth term in November. A new nominee will be selected in a special primary, which is required to be held within weeks of a vacancy. The winner of November's general election will start a full si year term in January. Graham had a close, complicated relationship with Mr. Trump Graham, elected to the Senate in 2002 after serving in the House, long a policy of robust U.S. military interventionism and strong national defence that in later years would put him at odds with the growing isolationist wing of his party.
Over time, Graham became well-known for his close ties with Mr. Trump, whom the senator briefly ran against for the presidential nomination in 2016. Their relationship would begin on a rough note, with Graham calling the then-New York businessman "unfit for office." Graham used a profanity to describe Mr. Trump after Mr. Trump made disparaging comments about Arizona Republican John McCain, Graham's best friend in the Senate and a Vietnam War veteran. Mr. McCain and Graham, along with Sen Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., were known as the "Three Amigos" and frequently travelled together to promote their foreign policy views around the globe. During a campaign rally in South Carolina, Mr. Trump read out Graham's personal cellphone number and continued to belittle him throughout the 2016 race as Graham made it clear he would not support Mr. Trump. Graham, however, shifted significantly once Mr. Trump won the White House and emerged as one of Trump's top allies — speaking with him frequently and becoming a regular presence on the golf course alongside the president — even as Mr. McCain remained a critic. In a 2018 interview with The Associated Press, Graham explained his pivot by saying Mr. McCain taught him that the country must move forward after elections and that meant “you have an obligation” to help the president. Mr. McCain ran twice for the White House. "And I've tried to be helpful where I could because I think he needs all the help he can get," Graham said of Mr. Trump. "You can be a better critic when people understand that you're trying to help them be successful." Graham was a prominent defender of Mr. Trump during the President's two first-term impeachments — a reversal from Graham's role as a House prosecutor during Democratic President Bill Clinton's impeachment in 1998, when he urged senators not to make up their minds before listening to all of the arguments. Both Mr. Trump and Clinton were eventually acquitted. Graham appeared to break with Mr. Trump after the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, saying in a dramatic speech on the Senate floor that night, "Count me out. Enough is enough." But the senator soon returned to Mr. Trump's side, and the two remained close during Mr. Trump's second term. Foreign policy was a focus for Graham Graham had just been in Ukraine to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said the senator visited his country 10 times during the years since Russia invaded in February 2022.
The BriefWire