{"id":216853,"date":"2026-07-12T19:46:58","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T19:46:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/lindsey-graham-key-ally-of-donald-trump-has-died-after-sudden-illness-his-office-says-the-guardian\/"},"modified":"2026-07-12T19:46:58","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T19:46:58","slug":"lindsey-graham-key-ally-of-donald-trump-has-died-after-sudden-illness-his-office-says-the-guardian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/lindsey-graham-key-ally-of-donald-trump-has-died-after-sudden-illness-his-office-says-the-guardian\/","title":{"rendered":"Lindsey Graham, key ally of Donald Trump, has died after sudden illness, his office says – The Guardian"},"content":{"rendered":"

Republican served in Senate since 2003 and was sharp Trump critic before becoming one of his most loyal backers
Lindsey Graham dies aged 71 \u2013 latest updates<\/a>
US politicians and foreign leaders pay tribute to Graham<\/a>
Lindsey Graham, a longtime US senator and key ally of Donald Trump, has died from a sudden illness, his office said on Sunday. He had just turned 71.
Graham\u2019s abrupt death will send shock waves through Washington and the Republican party. He had served in the Senate since 2003, representing South Carolina, and was running for re-election in November.
\u201cOn the evening of Saturday 11 July, US senator Lindsey Graham passed away from a brief and sudden illness,\u201d his office said in a statement. \u201cSenator Graham\u2019s family appreciates prayers at this time and asks for privacy during this incredibly difficult period.\u201d
It gave no further details. Citing police scanner audio, the Washington Post newspaper reported<\/a> that emergency medical services had received a call at about 8.30pm on Saturday regarding a person suffering chest pains at Graham\u2019s home on Capitol Hill. About 25 minutes later, according to the Post, emergency personnel said CPR was in progress and a man was suffering cardiac arrest.
There had been no known concerns over the health of Graham, whose birthday was last Thursday and who visited Ukraine last week. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, wrote on social media<\/a> on Friday: \u201cI\u2019m grateful to Lindsey for recognizing our warriors.\u201d Graham was scheduled<\/a> to appear as a guest on NBC\u2019s Meet the Press on Sunday.
His death is a personal blow to Trump, for whom he was a political cheerleader and frequent golf partner. The president posted on his Truth Social platform: \u201cSenator Lindsey Graham, one of the greatest people and Senators I have ever known, is dead! He was always working, and was a true American Patriot. Lindsey will be greatly missed!!! DETAILS AND ARRANGEMENTS TO FOLLOW. So sad!\u201d
Graham grew up in Central, a small town in South Carolina, where his parents ran a restaurant and pool hall. He was the first member of his family to go to college, earning undergraduate and law degrees from the University of South Carolina.
He served as an air force lawyer then joined the South Carolina Air National Guard. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1994 and was a manager during Bill Clinton\u2019s 1999 impeachment trial.
Elected to the Senate in 2002, Graham carved out a reputation as one of Capitol Hill\u2019s most outspoken foreign policy hawks. He supported the Iraq war and had long urged military action in Iran. He opposed the nuclear agreement negotiated by Barack Obama and had been one of Trump\u2019s staunchest defenders in the current conflict.
He briefly sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 and was initially a sharp critic of Trump, then the insurgent frontrunner. He condemned Trump as a \u201cjackass\u201d, \u201ca race-baiting bigot\u201d and \u201cthe most flawed nominee in the history of the Republican party\u201d, memorably warning on Twitter: \u201cIf we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed \u2026 and we will deserve it.\u201d Trump, in turn, dismissed Graham as an \u201cidiot\u201d and a \u201clightweight\u201d.
But the relationship was transformed after Trump entered the White House and Graham became one of the president\u2019s closest confidants. He emerged as a key adviser on foreign policy, particularly Iran and Russia. He also rallied the defence of Trump\u2019s embattled nominee for the supreme court, Brett Kavanaugh, in 2018.
Graham wobbled only after Trump\u2019s supporters staged an insurrection at the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 in an effort to overturn his election defeat. The senator declared: \u201cTrump and I, we\u2019ve had a hell of a journey \u2013 I hate it to end this way. Oh my God, I hate it. From my point of view, he\u2019s been a consequential president but today, first thing you\u2019ll see. All I can say is count me out. Enough is enough.\u201d
His rebellion did not last, however, and he refused to vote to convict Trump at the subsequent impeachment trial. He was again quick to endorse Trump in the 2024 presidential election.
Graham\u2019s death marks the passing of the last of the \u201cthree amigos\u201d, comprising Graham, Joe Lieberman and John McCain, senators and close friends who each made unsuccessful bids for the presidency. McCain died in 2018, Lieberman in 2024.
Among those paying tribute on Sunday was Henry McMaster, the Republican governor of South Carolina, who said in a statement: \u201cLindsey Graham is irreplaceable. The fiercest of fighters for South Carolina and America \u2013 and a loyal and steadfast friend.\u201d
According to state law<\/a>, McMaster may appoint a replacement to fill Graham\u2019s seat.
The Senate majority leader, John Thune, hailed Graham\u2019s international engagement and his tenure in Congress. \u201cHe was a strong advocate for the United States and a strong ally to freedom-loving countries across the globe. He believed in the might of America to achieve good in the world and dedicated his life to advancing that cause,\u201d Thune said on X.
He added: \u201cHis influence on the federal judiciary, our national defense, and his beloved South Carolina will be felt for generations.\u201d
Graham, an ally of the Christian right, was a staunch supporter of Israel, where several high-profile politicians expressed condolences. The prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, posted on X: \u201cIsrael has lost one of its greatest friends. America has lost a great patriot. I have lost a beloved friend.\u201d
Israel\u2019s president, Isaac Herzog, said the news had left him \u201cshocked and heartbroken\u201d. \u201cSenator Graham was a beacon of moral clarity and a true leader of the US-Israel partnership,\u201d he said in a post on X. \u201cWe will never forget how he stood by the people of Israel in our most difficult moments, and we will remain eternally grateful for his sense of justice, truth, and loyalty.\u201d
An Israeli source told the Jerusalem Post that Netanyahu was considering flying to the US for Graham\u2019s funeral and that if he did, it was likely he would meet Trump.
The statement issued by Graham\u2019s office, which gave no indication of the cause of death, comes amid growing scrutiny over the lack of transparency surrounding the health of Congress members.
The New Jersey Republican congressman Tom Kean disappeared from public view for months earlier this year before returning to Washington and revealing he had been diagnosed with depression. More recently, the Kentucky senator Mitch McConnell<\/a> was admitted to hospital for undisclosed health reasons.
Additional reporting by Deborah Cole<\/em><\/p>\n

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Republican served in Senate since 2003 and was sharp Trump critic before becoming one of his most loyal backersLindsey Graham dies aged 71 \u2013 latest updatesUS politicians and foreign leaders pay tribute to GrahamLindsey Graham, a longtime US senator and key ally of Donald Trump, has died from a sudden illness, his office said on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":216854,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-216853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216853"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216853\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}