President Donald Trump paid a pre-dawn tribute to his Republican ally—and regular golfing buddy—Lindsey Graham after news of Graham’s sudden death in Washington, D.C.
The South Carolina senator died on Saturday after what his office called a “brief and sudden illness,” two days after his 71st birthday and just one day after returning from a visit to Ukraine.
Trump posted on Truth Social at 3:21 a.m Sunday after learning of the breaking news.
“Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the greatest people and Senators I have ever known, is dead!,” Trump said. “He was always working, and was a true American Patriot. Lindsey will be greatly missed!!! DETAILS AND ARRANGEMENTS TO FOLLOW. So sad! President DONALD J. TRUMP.”
The pair had a complicated history over the last decade. Both Trump and Graham ran for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. Graham called Trump a “jackass,” a “race-baiting, xenophobic religious bigot,” and warned he would destroy the Republican Party.
After Trump won the White House in 2016, the pair were convinced into a “make-up” lunch in March, 2017, according to New York magazine, and they became fast friends by 2018 and regular partners on Trump’s golf courses.
According to a New York Times timeline of their relationship published last month, the two men first clashed when Trump mocked Sen. John McCain, the Republican war hero and a close friend of Graham.
Both men were vying for the Republican nomination and their relationship became increasingly bitter, with Graham mocking Trump’s burgeoning MAGA movement. “You know how you make America great again?” he asked on CNN. “Tell Donald Trump to go to hell.”
Graham admitted defeat in his presidential bid, dropping out of the running in December 2015, before making up with Trump early in his first term.
“I said he was a xenophobic, race-baiting religious bigot. I ran out of adjectives,” Graham told CBS in 2018. “Well, the American people spoke, and they rejected my analysis.”
Trump, for his part, admitted that Graham used to be a “great enemy” but was now a “great friend.” “I really like Lindsey. Can you believe it? I never thought I’d say that, but I do.”
Earlier this year, Graham was one of the most vocal backers of Trump’s war on Iran, making regular TV news appearances to push for even stronger action against the Islamic regime.
