US Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina and one of President Donald Trump's closest allies, has died at the age of 71 after a "brief and sudden illness," his office announced. Graham passed away on Saturday, shortly after returning from a visit to Ukraine.
According to a statement from his spokesman, preliminary findings by the medical examiner indicate that Graham died from a rupture of his aorta, one of the body's main arteries connected to the heart.
Graham was widely regarded as a leading Republican voice on foreign policy and had recently drawn attention for advocating '500 per cent' tariffs on India over its purchases of Russian oil. He was also viewed as one of the few figures able to bridge Trump's "America First" approach with the long-standing Washington foreign policy consensus centred on alliances with Europe and Israel, a position that had increasingly fallen out of favour across both major political parties.
Trump paid tribute to the senator, calling him a "true American patriot" who would be "greatly missed."
"Well, it's devastating. I thought he was fine. He called me last night. He just got back from Ukraine. And he had a great time. He was telling me about the trip. He was working very, very hard, because we know he wanted to make America happy," Trump said while talking to CNN.
"He was talking about that. He was full of vim and vigour. He was tired. He said, 'I'm tired because it's a long trip.' But other than that, he was fine. And he called me, I guess, moments before, because he called me like 6:30 or something. And the medical people got there a little bit later, right? What a terrible loss it is," Trump added.
Throughout his career, Graham was among Washington's most prominent advocates of an assertive US foreign policy, consistently arguing that American military power should be used to defend democracies abroad even as much of his party shifted toward Trump's more skeptical view of overseas commitments.
He remained a firm supporter of Ukraine until his death, despite signs of wavering commitment from Trump on the issue.
First elected to the Senate in 2002, Graham served South Carolina in both the House of Representatives and the Senate for more than 30 years. During Trump's second term, he publicly backed the administration's hardline stance on Iran but largely refrained from criticizing the president as the administration dismantled the US Agency for International Development, questioned NATO's relevance, floated the use of military force to seize Greenland from an ally and praised Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Graham also spearheaded efforts to impose sweeping tariffs on countries importing Russian energy, including India, China and Brazil. Alongside Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, he introduced the bipartisan Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025, proposing a minimum 500 per cent tariff on countries purchasing Russian petroleum, natural gas and uranium if Moscow continued its war in Ukraine.
"Here's what I would tell China, India, and Brazil: If you keep buying cheap Russian oil to allow this war to continue, we're going to tear the hell out of you and we're going to crush your economy, because what you're doing is blood money," he had said.
"You're buying cheap Russian oil at the expense of the world, and President Trump is tired of this game. China, India, and Brazil they're about to face a choice between the American economy or helping Putin. And I think they're going to come pick the American economy".
A day before his death, following his return from Kyiv, Graham announced that he had reached an agreement with the Trump administration to move ahead with a new sanctions package targeting Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who met Graham twice during the past week, said the senator had travelled to Ukraine 10 times since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022 and "was here with our people when it was most needed." He added that "Lindsey was a true defender of freedom and the values that make our world safer."
Beyond Russia, Graham consistently supported measures aimed at isolating Iran and curbing its missile and nuclear ambitions. He praised Trump's decision to strike Iranian nuclear sites last year and endorsed the latest conflict involving Tehran. At one stage, he even proposed deploying ground troops to capture Kharg Island, a strategically important Iranian oil-processing hub.
"We did Iwo Jima, we can do this," he told Fox News in March.
Although Graham enjoyed strong support in Israel, his position on the war in Gaza drew criticism across much of the Middle East, including from US allies favouring a diplomatic resolution. He remained an outspoken supporter of Israel's military campaign in Gaza following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas-led militants.
After the US paused some military assistance to Israel in May 2024, Graham urged then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to "give Israel what they need to fight the war." He compared the threat facing Israel to "Hiroshima and Nagasaki on steroids." Later that year, he wrote on social media that "the Palestinians in Gaza are the most radicalized population on the planet who are taught to hate Jews from birth."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remembered Graham as "a great friend of Israel" and "a cherished friend of mine."
Netanyahu said Graham understood that the security of Israel and the United States are inseparable and the prime minister said that Graham devoted his life to defending America, strengthening the U.S.-Israel alliance and standing up for the free world.
"Israel has lost one of its greatest friends. America has lost a great patriot. I have lost a beloved friend," Netanyahu said.
