US Senator Lindsey Graham dies after ‘brief and sudden illness’, his office says

US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham died after a short and sudden illness.

His office released a statement saying he died Saturday evening. “Senator Graham’s family appreciates prayers at this time and asks for privacy during this incredibly difficult time.”

Elected to the Senate in 2002, the politician from South Carolina was one of Washington’s most influential voices on foreign policy and a key ally of Trump.

He had just returned from Kiev, where he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday. He had no known health problems before his trip.

US President Donald Trump said Graham was a “true American Patriot” in his social media post regarding the senator’s death.

Graham also served as Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee.

He was a strong advocate of U.S. support for Ukraine. “Putin will not stop in Ukraine,” he told the BBC in 2023.

“To be weak in Ukraine means to lose in Taiwan,” he said.

Graham was working on a version of the Russia sanctions bill during his last visit to Ukraine, which he said would provide “President Trump with the tools to end this war.”

Over the years, Graham has clashed with President Trump but has remained one of his staunchest supporters.

“There’s a dark side to Donald Trump… and he was a very good president. But I’m sticking with him because I’ve seen what he’s done,” he told the BBC in 2023. He had cited Trump’s record on the US southern border, the killing of Iranian Qassem Soleimani and the appointment of conservative judges.