Donald Trump has described his final conversation with South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham on the evening of his death.
The 80-year-old president appeared on State of the Union Sunday, and spoke of the sudden loss of Graham aged 71 on Saturday, following the latter’s tenth trip to Ukraine.
“Well it’s devastating. I thought he was fine. He called me last night,” Trump began.
“He just got back from Ukraine and he had a great trip. He was telling me about the trip. He was pushing very, very hard. You probably know, he wanted to do the SAVE America Act. He was talking about that.”
Trump then described Graham as his “North Star”: “He was full of vim and vigor. He was tired. He said, ‘I’m tired because it’s a long trip.’ But other than that, he was fine.”
According to Trump, the call may have been one of Graham’s final actions before emergency services were called to his residence. “And he called me, I guess, just moments before. Because he called me like at 6:30 or something. And the, uh, the medical people got there a little bit later, right after that. What a terrible loss it is,” he said.
Trump has made no secret of his sadness after losing his ever-loyal right-hand man; who many years ago was better known as one of the president’s staunchest critics.
Trump confirmed Graham’s death on Truth Social in an early morning post, writing: “Senator 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! President DONALD J. TRUMP.”
While the president has confirmed Graham’s death, there has not yet been a confirmation of cause from his office beyond “a brief and sudden illness.”
According to police scanner audio obtained by The Washington Post, emergency responders were called at around 8:30 p.m. for a person suffering chest pains.
Around 25 minutes later CPR was in progress at Graham’s Capitol Hill home, with the patient said to be suffering from cardiac arrest. He was photographed loaded into an ambulance at around 9:30 p.m., before being taken to George Washington University Hospital.
