Senator Lindsey Graham dies of aortic tear at 69

With the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R–S.C.), U.S. foreign policy may be poised for a significant shift—moving away from the hawkish stance the longtime Washington insider favored toward a more restrained approach aligned with President Donald Trump's nationalist MAGA base.

Once a Trump critic, Graham became a friend and confidant to the president during both his administrations. He nudged Trump in an internationalist direction that largely avoided the hard break many world leaders had feared. However, Graham's position was increasingly out of step with an American public growing skeptical of military adventures.

Graham 'Believed Strongly in the NATO Alliance'

In the hours before his death from an aortic tear, as he began to feel unwell, Graham reportedly joked: "I can't die now. I still need to do the Russia sanctions, get Iran sorted out and do Israeli-Saudi normalization."

Graham had just returned from meeting with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as part of his support for that country's fight against invading Russian forces. He briefed Trump on the meeting. Graham was a strong supporter of sanctions against Russia, aid to Ukraine, support for Israel, and engagement with allies, including NATO members.

"Deeply saddened by the news of the passing of United States Senator Lindsey Graham. Lindsey was a true defender of freedom and the values that make our world safer," Zelenskyy commented as news of the senator's death spread.

Deeply saddened by the news of the passing of United States Senator Lindsey Graham. Lindsey was a true defender of freedom and the values that make our world safer. He visited Ukraine ten times during the years of Russia's full-scale invasion and was here with our people when it…

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— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) July 12, 2026

"So sad to learn of the sudden passing of my friend @LindseyGrahamSC," mourned NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. "He was a powerful advocate for America who believed strongly in the NATO Alliance and was actively working to bring an end to Russia's war against Ukraine."

"Lindsey understood that the security of Israel and America are inseparable," agreed Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "He devoted his life to defending America, strengthening our alliance and standing up for the free world."

As those eulogies suggest, Graham served as an advocate for an active and often war-like foreign policy on behalf of U.S. interests and those of its allies. Importantly, he also had the ear of Trump—a chief executive who frequently voiced skepticism of foreign involvement but noted Graham's passing by calling him "a dear friend of mine, and a truly great man, who achieved so much for our Country."

From Trump Critic to Trusted Confidant

The connection between Graham and Trump would have been inconceivable a decade ago. In 2016, with Trump closing in on the GOP nomination, Graham accused the front-runner of waging "a campaign on xenophobia, race-baiting, religious bigotry" and warned that if Trump was nominated, "the Republican Party will get killed, we'll get creamed, we'll lose, we'll deserve it."

Beyond his personal criticism of the eventual nominee and two-term president, Graham championed an aggressive and often violent foreign policy of the sort Trump had criticized for decades. Of the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq—a war Trump opposed—Graham said at the time that it was "the only reasonable option available." Graham favored America's participation in NATO, while Trump, as far back as 1987, paid for newspaper ads arguing that U.S. allies do not cover their fair share of defense costs.

It would have been reasonable to expect the South Carolina lawmaker to be on the outs with an administration leaning toward a more go-it-alone position. Instead, a president who once predicted that then-President Barack Obama "will attack Iran in order to get re-elected" ended up waging a war against Iran of the sort favored by Graham and resuming military support for Ukraine—despite very public spats with that country's leadership. Trump has also, however grudgingly, continued working with traditional U.S. allies, despite repeated flirtations with the idea of pulling the U.S. out of NATO.

The president's ongoing backing of Israel is less surprising, given his long-established support for the world's only majority-Jewish country.

Graham may have modified his opinion of Donald Trump, but it was the president who bent when it came to engagement with other countries. Graham never budged from his hawkish advocacy under Trump and through the interregnum Biden administration.

You are reading The Rattler from J.D. Tuccille and Reason. Get more of J.D.'s commentary on government overreach and threats to everyday liberty.