Lindsey Graham dies at 71 after sudden illness, ending long Senate career

Summary

US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, one of President Donald Trump's closest allies and an influential voice on American foreign policy, has died after what his office described as a "brief and sudden illness". He was 71. Graham represented South Carolina in the Senate for more than two decades and was among the Republican Party's most outspoken supporters of Ukraine in its war against Russia. He was also a leading advocate of tougher sanctions on Moscow and a vocal critic of India's purchases of Russian oil during the Ukraine war. Though he had a bitter rivalry with Trump during the 2016 Republican presidential campaign, he later became one of the president's closest political allies. Earlier this year, Graham cited US tariffs on India as "a good example of how things can change" while claiming that New Delhi had dramatically reduced its purchases of Russian oil. Born in South Carolina, Graham was first elected to the US House of Representatives in 1994 before winning election to the Senate in 2002. Although he sharply criticised Trump during the 2016 Republican presidential primaries, the two later forged a close political relationship, with Graham emerging as one of the president's most dependable allies in Congress. He strongly supported Trump's judicial appointments, immigration policies and much of his foreign policy agenda, despite occasional differences. He's been at my side for a long time." Recalling their once-bitter rivalry, Trump added: "After that fight was over, we were best of friends, and he's helped me as much as anybody in the Senate." Graham's death marks the end of a long political career in Washington in which he remained a prominent Republican voice on foreign policy, a strong backer of Ukraine and, in later years, one of Trump's closest allies in the Senate.