President Donald Trump on Tuesday eulogized the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) as “the giant of the United States Senate” whose unwavering belief in American strength defined both his public career and his personal life, telling mourners gathered at Washington National Cathedral that the longtime South Carolina Republican “felt in his bones that our destiny is to win.”
Speaking before a congregation that included Vice President JD Vance, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, members of Trump’s Cabinet and congressional leaders from both parties, the president remembered Graham as one of the U.S. Senate’s defining figures whose influence stretched far beyond Capitol Hill.
“The giant of the United States Senate, a true American original who left us much too soon,” Trump said. “Nothing of consequence happened in this capital without Lindsey Graham knowing about it. Nothing of significance happened anywhere in the world without Lindsey Graham having a view on it.”
Trump centered much of his remarks on Graham’s worldview, describing the late senator’s foreign policy philosophy as one rooted in projecting American strength abroad. “Above all, Lindsey Graham believed in a strong America,” Trump said. “He had unwavering faith in the righteousness of American power and prayer. … He felt in his bones that our destiny is to win — and that his job was to do everything he could to ensure our enemies would lose.”
Trump said that conviction motivated Graham’s 33 years of military service in the Air Force and Air National Guard, as well as his frequent overseas travel as a senator. “It was this conviction that took him as a senator to almost every country on earth, confronting America’s adversaries and standing up for America’s friends,” Trump said. “It’s a testament to his towering impact that among those mourning him here today are leaders, presidents, prime ministers from all over the globe.”
The president also reflected on his unlikely friendship with Graham, recalling their bitter rivalry during the 2016 Republican presidential primary before the two became close political allies. “We became great friends, and Lindsey did not stop calling me for the next 10 years,” Trump joked. “I always cherished the memories of our golf games.”
Trump acknowledged Graham’s reputation as one of the Senate’s most hawkish members while framing it as an extension of his patriotism. “He was extremely hawkish. I will tell you, he never saw a war that he didn’t like,” Trump said to laughter. “Only his true friends would understand that — but he wanted it for the good of our country.”
Fox News host Sean Hannity, one of Graham’s closest friends, echoed many of those themes during his own eulogy, rejecting criticism that Graham was a warmonger. “The truth was the opposite,” Hannity said. “Lindsey desperately wanted a lasting peace in the Middle East.” Hannity argued that Graham’s support for a strong military stemmed from what he called the senator’s “moral clarity.”
“He understood right from wrong, good from evil,” Hannity said. “He knew … there can be no path to peace until evil is defeated.” The longtime television host also reflected on Graham’s decades of military service, his devotion to South Carolina, and his friendship with Trump, saying the president had given Graham “the greatest gift of his life” by allowing him “a front-row seat at the highest levels of history.”
Graham’s niece, Emillie Boggs Roberts, offered a more personal portrait of the senator, reflecting on his deep pride in his family and the relationships that shaped him away from public life. She described him as more than an uncle or senator, but “the foundation of our family.”
Roberts recalled how he became both brother and parent to her mother after their parents died, and said that despite decades in national politics, Graham never failed to prioritize his family, making time for holidays, vacations, graduations, hospital visits, and phone calls from home, no matter what demands awaited him in Washington.
The funeral concluded ahead of Graham’s burial in South Carolina, where the longtime senator will be laid to rest after more than three decades in Congress.
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