US Senator & close Trump ally Lindsay Graham dies

Washington: US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, one of President Donald Trump’s closest allies and an influential voice on American foreign policy, died after what his office described as a “brief and sudden illness”. He was 71.

Graham represented South Carolina in the Senate for over two decades and was a leading Republican voice on foreign policy. Although he was a fierce critic of Trump during the 2016 Republican presidential campaign, they later forg­ed a close political alliance, with Graham becoming one of the president’s dependable supporters in Congress.

His office announced his death on X, saying he died on Saturday evening after a brief illness. His family requested privacy. Trump paid tribute on social media, calling Graham “a true American Patriot” who would be “greatly missed”.

Graham was a supporter of Ukraine and a critic of India’s purchases of Russian oil. He backed legislation allowing the US president to impose tariffs of up to 500% on nati­ons buying Russian energy.

world reacts

Leaders of Nato nations, Ukraine and Israel paid tribute to US Senator Lindsey Graham, praising his support for Ukraine, trans-Atlantic ties and Israel. Ukrainian Presi­dent Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Graham had visited Ukr­a­ine 10 times since Russia’s invasion in 2022 and was “a true defender of freedom”.

PM Benjamin Netanyahu described Graham as “a great friend of Israel”. Graham was a leading Republican voice on foreign policy and a hardline approach towards Iran.

A news anchor of Iranian state TV in hostile terms said, “I congratulate the great nation of Iran on Lindsey Graham, the warmongering and anti-Iranian US senator, having gone to hell.”

Scribe seeks probe

Conservative commentator Laura Loomer has called for a probe into Graham’s death.

On X, Loomer wrote: “Five days ago, Graham posted that the IRGC threatened to assassinate him. They threatened to assassinate me and President Trump as well...”

“Now, Senator Graham is dead a day after returning from Ukraine. Russia sent a delegation to Khameini’s funeral. While in Ukraine, he spoke about sanctioning Russia and helping Ukraine defend itself against Putin. This doesn’t feel like a coincidence.” “Did Russia just poison Lindsey Graham? There seriously needs to be an investigation...” 

—Agencies