Trump Calls Lindsey Graham ‘A Guy That Liked War’

President Donald Trump on Tuesday described the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., as “a guy that liked war,” just hours before he was scheduled to speak at Graham’s funeral and one day after a video of the senator reacting to U.S. strikes on Iran gained widespread attention online.

Speaking with Fox News, Trump said, “He was a guy that liked war,” adding, “I jokingly say, and there’s nothing funny about it, that he’s never seen a war he didn’t like. He was very much into that.” The remarks came after a clip filmed by British documentary filmmaker Alex Holder for the upcoming documentary Lindsey’s Game circulated online. In the footage, Graham is seen watching news coverage of the February U.S. strikes on Iran from his office, saying, “Look what we’ve done here. I almost cried,” before adding that he had spoken with Trump earlier that day and that “he’s jacked … he loves blowing stuff up.”

Trump also said Graham’s views on Iran had shifted in the weeks before his death. Referring to negotiations with Tehran, Trump said the longtime senator had come to believe that “it’s better making a deal in this case than just destroying the rest of the country.” The comments come as Trump has shown greater willingness to pursue an end to the conflict amid declining support among some of his political base and rising costs associated with the war.

Funeral services for Graham are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. at the U.S. Capitol, followed by a 2 p.m. memorial service at Washington National Cathedral, where Trump is expected to deliver remarks. Before the services, Trump is also scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, both of whom are expected to attend the funeral.

Another excerpt from Holder’s documentary released Tuesday shows Netanyahu singing “Happy Birthday” to Graham during a July celebration last year marking the senator’s 70th birthday. Standing beside Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Graham joked, “you should have seen the cake the Saudis got me.” Before his death, Graham had been working to encourage normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Graham’s sister, Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., who was appointed by Republican Gov. Henry McMaster to succeed her brother, recently rejected claims that he supported war for its own sake. Speaking to Fox News earlier this month, she said, “he didn’t love war, he wanted peace.” She is seeking a full Senate term in a special election on Aug. 11 against Reps. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., and Russell Fry, R-S.C. Lindsey Graham had been campaigning for a fifth term before his death and was widely expected to win re-election.

Graham died unexpectedly on July 11 in Washington at the age of 71. According to a preliminary report from the District of Columbia medical examiner’s office cited by multiple media outlets, he died from an aortic dissection caused by arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Trump said the two had spoken shortly before Graham’s death following the senator’s trip to Ukraine, where he met with Zelenskyy. Reflecting on their relationship, Trump said, “he was a great guy. He was a great politician, actually,” noting that although their relationship “started a little bit rough” during the 2016 Republican presidential primary, “it really ended up being a great friendship,” adding that Graham had become “like a member of the family in a sense.”