The Republican died after a sudden illness, according to a statement posted on his X account. He died two days after his 71st birthday. As recently as Friday, the senator met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv.
According to NBC News, paramedics were alerted to a cardiac arrest at Graham's home in Washington, DC, on Saturday evening.
Lindsey Graham was elected to the United States Senate from South Carolina in 2003. For about a decade, he has been one of President Trump's most loyal supporters.
"He always worked and was a true American patriot. Lindsey will be greatly missed!!!," the president wrote on Truth Social.
Many visits to Ukraine
Graham has served as an American envoy during the Ukraine war. He has visited the war-torn country several times and pushed for increased sanctions and pressure on Russia. In the past week alone, he met with Volodymyr Zelensky twice, the Ukrainian president said after the death.
"He visited Ukraine ten times during Russia's large-scale invasion and was here with our people when they were needed most. We maintained a constant dialogue and I will miss our conversations," Zelenskyy writes on X.
The senator has also been one of the most outspoken advocates of US and Israeli attacks on Iran.
"If Iran challenges US control of the Strait of Hormuz, we will wipe them out," he said two weeks ago on
Criticized Trump
Graham understood that the security of the United States and Israel cannot be separated, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Israel has lost one of its best friends,” he said in a statement after the senator’s death.
Before Graham's time as a senator, he was a member of the House of Representatives. In 2015, he made an attempt to become the Republican presidential nominee for the following year's election, but withdrew his candidacy.
At the time, however, Graham was not a big fan of Donald Trump. Instead, he backed Texas Senator Ted Cruz, arguing that Trump - who would later win the presidential election - would be a “disaster.”
"I think he would cause the party enormous damage," Graham said, accusing Trump of building his campaign on "xenophobia and religious bigotry," according to The Washington Post.
