Senator Lindsey Graham dies at 71 after sudden illness

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a longtime member of the U.S. Senate and former ally of President Donald Trump, died on Saturday evening at the age of 71 after what his office described as a "brief and sudden illness." Emergency responders at his Washington, D.C., residence reported that a man at the house suffered cardiac arrest.

Graham, first elected in 2002, was known for his influential role in foreign-policy debates, often advocating for U.S. military involvement abroad. He had returned from a visit to Kyiv on Friday, where he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and there were no publicly reported health concerns before the trip.

President Trump told NBC News that he had spoken with Graham hours before his death and that the senator "sounded great" but appeared a little tired.

"He was a tough cookie in many ways. If he wanted to get something, if he thought he was right and he had people against him, he could be very tough, actually. But he was a good person."

Zelensky posted on the social platform X that he was "deeply saddened" by Graham's passing.

Throughout his career, Graham's positions shifted on several issues. He once criticized Trump as a "race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot" in 2015, but later voted against convicting the former president in the 2021 impeachment trial and supported his 2024 candidacy, citing policies on the southern border, the killing of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani, and judicial appointments. In a 2023 interview, Graham said there was "a dark side to Donald Trump... and he was a very good president," reflecting his complex relationship with the former president.

Graham also advocated for strong U.S. actions against Iran, warning of an "obliterate" scenario if Tehran did not comply with U.S. demands over the Strait of Hormuz, and consistently backed military aid to Kyiv and sanctions on Moscow. He opposed the 2021 withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, describing it as a "sad and dangerous event for US national security," and supported the 2001 Iraq war authorization.