{"id":1272,"date":"2026-07-12T18:43:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T18:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=1272"},"modified":"2026-07-12T18:43:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T18:43:00","slug":"trump-loses-lindsey-graham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=1272","title":{"rendered":"Trump Loses Lindsey Graham"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Lindsey Graham had just returned <\/span>from a trip to Ukraine last night when he called President Trump to talk with him\u2014about the trip, about one of the president\u2019s key legislative priorities, about the days ahead. The two spoke often on their cellphones, a reminder of how their relationship had warmed in the decade since Trump, in a fit of pique after Graham called him a \u201cjackass,\u201d read the South Carolina senator\u2019s personal cellphone number aloud at a campaign event.<\/p>\n

Read more The Quintessential Politician of This Era<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHe was full of vim and vigor,\u201d Trump recalled on CNN this morning. \u201cHe was tired. He said, \u2018I\u2019m tired because it\u2019s a long trip.\u2019 But other than that, he was fine.\u201d Not long after the call, as a result of what his office said was \u201ca brief and sudden illness,\u201d Graham was dead.<\/p>\n

Trump at 3:21 a.m. posted on social media that Graham was \u201cone of the greatest people and Senators I have ever known.\u201d By morning, the flags were lowered to half-staff at the White House, the political jockeying for his replacement had begun in South Carolina, and Trump and his aides were openly mourning the loss of a close personal friend and ardent political ally.<\/p>\n

Graham had told Trump last night that in the morning he was going to appear on NBC\u2019s Meet the Press<\/em> for what would have been his 64th time. Trump joined instead. \u201cHe\u2019s a tough one to lose. He was great. He was unique in every way, actually,\u201d he said. Trump recounted his reaction when a Graham staffer passed along the news at about 1 in the morning: \u201cI said, \u2018I just can\u2019t believe it. He was like a member of the family to me.\u2019 It\u2019s very tough, actually.\u201d<\/p>\n

Graham’s death has thrown into question the path forward on a number of Trump priorities, including a new reconciliation bill\u2014which could contain portions of his Save America Act on voting\u2014as well as the looming confirmation battle over attorney-general nominee Todd Blanche. Trump\u2019s relations with GOP senators have been rocky, to say the least, and Graham was a crucial conciliator who often mediated between the White House and Capitol Hill. The absence of Senator Mitch McConnell, who was hospitalized last month with no indication of when he might return, further narrows the margins for Senate Republicans.<\/p>\n

McConnell\u2019s illness and Graham’s death represent twin blows for the pro-Ukrainian wing of the party, which had been heartened by Trump\u2019s recent show of support for President Volodymyr Zelensky and sees Russia as being on its back foot in the war. Graham had been a reliable supporter of Ukraine\u2014one of his last public appearances was a meeting with Zelensky on Friday\u2014and he said from Kyiv\u00a0 that Trump had been\u00a0 persuaded to bless his long-stalled Russian sanctions bill.<\/p>\n

Graham\u2019s death was another shock to a West Wing that has grown accustomed to brushes with mortality. Aides were not as close to Graham as they were to the slain right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, but the senator had become a familiar, affable presence in Trump\u2019s orbit and many had grown fond of him. \u201cAmerica has lost a Statesman. President Trump and the White House have lost a friend,\u201d White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote. Vice President Vance recalled getting into a shouting match with him over Ukraine funding one day, then trying to align with him on rail legislation the next: \u201cHe fought like hell for the things he believed in, and he was just as willing to go to bat for you when it counted.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMeetings with Graham at the White House were filled with camaraderie, kinship and uproarious laughter,\u201d Stephen Miller wrote in a lengthy social media post. \u201cIn many respects, Lindsey was the last of a breed of American Senator whose like we may not yet see again for a long time. He lived every minute in the arena, a political gladiator to the very last.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was also immediate concern as to who might follow Graham into the South Carolina senate seat; the appointment of any House Republican would further erode the party\u2019s slim advantage in the lower chamber, and the White House in particular opposes Nancy Mace, the once-close ally turned frequent Trump critic who performed poorly in her recent run for governor. (Mace has reportedly expressed interest in the seat).<\/p>\n

Read more The Scrubbed and Simple Moon<\/a><\/p>\n

Governor Henry McMaster, a staunch Trump ally, will appoint someone to fill the seat until January, and a special Republican primary election will be held next month to pick a nominee. (Graham, who was up for reelection, won his primary last month.) \u201cI have somebody that I think would be great, but I don\u2019t want to say it now because it\u2019s just, you know, it\u2019s too soon with Lindsey,\u201d Trump said on Meet the Press<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Graham did some remarkable shapeshifting<\/span> to stay close to power, journeying from being one of John McCain\u2019s best friends to one of Trump\u2019s most reflexive advocates. He also forged a close bond with Joe Biden during trips to warzones, and he worked with John Kerry on climate-change legislation. The one consistency was his hawkish view of foreign policy. Even after he cozied up to Trump, he remained tough on Russia and a vocal supporter of Ukraine despite the president\u2019s deference to Vladimir Putin. And, of course, Graham had long advocated attacking Iran and was one of the loudest voices in Washington urging Trump to launch a war that has since turned into a quagmire for the White House.<\/p>\n

The veteran senator\u2019s relationship with Trump has been a journey. A decade ago, after years of traveling the world with McCain and Joe Lieberman as the so-called three amigos, Graham opted to make a run for the White House. Always a longshot, his campaign never took off. But Graham was unsparing in his assessment that Trump was unfit for office, tweeting in May 2016 that the party would \u201cget destroyed\u201d if it nominated the first-time candidate, adding that \u201cwe will deserve it.” But Graham soon worked to fix his relationship with Trump.<\/p>\n

Long a fixture on the cable-news and Washington talk-show circuit, Graham used his many appearances to defend the president during his first term. Much to the dismay of McCain, who never softened his caustic assessment of Trump, Graham began to frequently golf with the president and boast about his ability to get him on the phone. Though Graham disagreed with Trump on Putin, he more than made up for it in the eyes of Trump’s inner circle with his red-faced, angry defense of Brett Kavanaugh that many believe helped save the pick during his Supreme Court\u2013nomination hearings. (Trump today said that Graham\u2019s defense of Kavanaugh may be his biggest legacy, and one of the finest moments in the history of the Senate.)<\/p>\n

Graham famously broke with Trump after the January 6 attack\u2014 using a floor speech late that night to announce that he was done with Trump and that \u201cenough is enough\u201d\u2014but he got back on board once it became clear that Trump was still the dominant figure in Republican politics. Graham worked tirelessly for Trump during his comeback, and frequently helped rally the GOP caucus to support Trump positions during his second term.<\/p>\n

One of the last speeches Graham made on the floor of the Senate came a month ago when he urged his colleagues to pass the SAVE America Act. The legislation, which he and others were attempting to add as an amendment to an immigration-funding package, includes a crackdown on mail-in balloting as well as bans on transgender athletes in women\u2019s sports. \u201cIf you don’t want a photo ID, you are probably into cheating. There is no other reason to say you don\u2019t have to have an ID,\u201d Graham said. \u201cIt just makes cheating easier. Who wants a noncitizen voting in our elections? If you are against that, that makes me wonder.\u201d<\/p>\n

Graham knew the measure, which elections experts say is unnecessary and will make it harder for legally registered voters to cast their ballots, would fail. \u201cWe will talk about this in November during the election,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a big blow to the SAVE America act, let me tell you,\u201d Trump said this morning. It\u2019s unclear what new strategy Graham may have had to push the legislation forward. But Trump several times mentioned that Graham wanted the bill to pass, as if determined to tie his effort to secure the legislation to Graham\u2019s memory.<\/p>\n

Read more You Can Know Too Much About Your Genes<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The South Carolina senator\u2019s sudden death leaves a void that the White House can\u2019t afford.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1271,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump Loses Lindsey Graham - Commercial Relocation Pros<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=1272\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump Loses Lindsey Graham - Commercial Relocation Pros\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The South Carolina senator\u2019s sudden death leaves a void that the White House can\u2019t afford.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=1272\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Commercial Relocation Pros\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-12T18:43:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=1272#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=1272\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3a3374a445f1b5d4852b1d7c15b9fe3a\"},\"headline\":\"Trump Loses Lindsey Graham\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-12T18:43:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=1272\"},\"wordCount\":1462,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=1272#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/62188647f07d716d7e43f7145fe07d49.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=1272#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=1272\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=1272\",\"name\":\"Trump Loses Lindsey Graham - 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