Graham used his position to push for steep tariffs on nations that imported Russian energy, including India, China, and Brazil. He introduced a bill proposing at least a 500 per cent tariff on nations purchasing Russian energy products.
US lawmaker Lindsey Graham, a Republican and a close ally of President Donald Trump, has died at the age of 71. Graham had just returned from a trip to Ukraine before he died on Saturday, following a “brief and sudden illness,” his office said.
Preliminary findings from the medical examiner suggest the South Carolina senator’s death was caused by a rupture of his aorta, a key artery in the heart, his spokesman said in a statement.
Graham, who was one of the first to push for ‘500 per cent’ tariffs on India for its purchase of Russian oil, was seen as a rare bridge between Trump’s “America First” foreign policy and the traditional Washington consensus prioritising alliances with Europe and Israel, one falling out of favour with many in both political parties.
What Trump Said
Trump described Graham as a “true American patriot” who would be “greatly missed.”
“Well, it’s devastating. I thought he was fine. He called me last night. He just got back from Ukraine. And he had a great time. He was telling me about the trip. He was working very, very hard, because we know he wanted to make America happy,” Trump said while talking to CNN.
“He was talking about that. He was full of vim and vigour. He was tired. He said, ‘I’m tired because it’s a long trip.’ But other than that, he was fine. And he called me, I guess, moments before, because he called me like 6:30 or something. And the medical people got there a little bit later, right? What a terrible loss it is,” Trump added.
About Lindsey Graham
Graham was one of Washington’s most influential voices on foreign policy, often selling a vision of the United States as a nation willing to use its military might to protect democracies around the world, even as his own party was taken over by a president openly skeptical of that worldview.
With that idea of the US, Graham remained a staunch defender of Ukraine to the end, even as Trump’s commitment wavered.
Elected to the Senate in 2002, Graham represented South Carolina in the House and Senate for more than three decades. When Trump returned for a second term, Graham cheered his aggressive approach to Iran but was largely silent as the president dismantled the US Agency for International Development, questioned the value of NATO, suggested using military force against allies to seize Greenland, and praised Russian President Vladimir Putin.
‘Called For Tariffs On India’
Graham also used his position to push for steep tariffs on nations that imported Russian energy, including India, China, and Brazil. He introduced the bipartisan Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025 with Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, proposing at least a 500 per cent tariff on nations purchasing Russian energy products, including petroleum, natural gas, and uranium, if Moscow continued the war in Ukraine.
“Here’s what I would tell China, India, and Brazil: If you keep buying cheap Russian oil to allow this war to continue, we’re going to tear the hell out of you and we’re going to crush your economy, because what you’re doing is blood money,” he had said.
“You’re buying cheap Russian oil at the expense of the world, and President Trump is tired of this game. China, India, and Brazil they’re about to face a choice between the American economy or helping Putin. And I think they’re going to come pick the American economy”.
On Friday, shortly after returning from a trip to Kyiv, Graham announced an agreement with the Trump administration to move forward on a package of sanctions against Russia.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Graham, whom he met twice in the past week, had visited Ukraine 10 times since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 and “was here with our people when it was most needed.” He said that “Lindsey was a true defender of freedom and the values that make our world safer.”
Iran War
Graham also backed policies aimed at isolating Iran and limiting its missile and nuclear programs. He cheered Trump’s decision to strike nuclear sites last year and was a supporter of the latest conflict there. At one point, Graham advocated using ground troops to seize Kharg Island, a crucial site for Iranian oil processing.
“We did Iwo Jima, we can do this,” he told Fox News in March.
While Graham was admired in Israel, his position toward the war in Gaza in particular angered many in the Middle East, including US allies who advocated a diplomatic solution. He was outspoken in supporting Israel’s devastating military operations in Gaza after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas-led militants.
In May 2024, after Washington paused some military aid to Israel, Graham urged then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to “give Israel what they need to fight the war.” He likened the threat Israel faced to “Hiroshima and Nagasaki on steroids.” He posted on social media later that year that “the Palestinians in Gaza are the most radicalized population on the planet who are taught to hate Jews from birth.”