Lindsey Graham's funeral to be attended by Trump, Netanyahu, Zelenskiy as Washington bids farewell to key ally

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy are expected in Washington on Tuesday for the funeral of US Senator Lindsey Graham, a prominent Republican voice who spent years pressing Washington to stand firmly behind both Israel and Ukraine.

US President Donald Trump is scheduled to deliver remarks at the funeral service at Washington National Cathedral. The service will follow a ceremony at the U.S. Capitol, reflecting Graham’s long and influential career in American politics.

Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, died suddenly on July 11 after suffering a heart ailment. He was 71.

A powerful advocate for Israel and Ukraine

Known as one of the Senate’s most outspoken defense hawks, Graham consistently argued that the United States should play an assertive role overseas. That position made him a particularly vocal supporter of Israel and Ukraine during their respective conflicts.

His connection with Kyiv remained strong until his final days. Graham met Zelenskiy in the Ukrainian capital just one day before his death, marking his 10th visit to the country since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022.

One of Graham’s final legislative battles is also still playing out in Washington. The Senate is preparing to consider a bipartisan package of additional sanctions targeting Russia, legislation Graham had worked to advance before his death.

His support for Israel was equally emphatic. In recent months, Graham had emerged as one of the most persistent defenders of the Trump administration’s handling of the Iran war, despite growing public opposition to the conflict.

From fierce Trump critic to close ally

Graham’s relationship with Trump underwent one of the more dramatic transformations in recent Republican politics.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, when Graham briefly sought the Republican nomination himself, he was an outspoken critic of Trump. In one memorable CNN appearance, he described Trump as a “race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot.”

Their rivalry, however, did not last.

After Trump took control of the Republican Party, Graham gradually became one of his most dependable allies in the Senate. He frequently appeared on television to defend the administration and became a regular golfing partner of the president.

By the final years of his life, Graham was among Trump’s most recognisable congressional supporters.

Sister steps into Senate seat

Graham had been seeking a fifth Senate term and won South Carolina’s Republican primary in June, just weeks before his death.

Following his death, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster appointed Graham’s sister, Darline Graham, to serve out the remainder of his term. She has since announced plans to contest the November election for a full six-year term and has received Trump’s endorsement.

Her Democratic opponent, pediatrician Annie Andrews, faces an uphill contest in South Carolina, a state where Republicans have maintained a strong electoral advantage.

The appointment also carries a deeply personal dimension. Lindsey Graham became his younger sister’s guardian after their parents died while she was still a child.

From Air Force lawyer to four-term senator

Before becoming a fixture in Washington, Graham served as an Air Force lawyer and was a member of the South Carolina Air National Guard.

His political career began in the South Carolina legislature before taking him to the U.S. House of Representatives. In 2002, he won election to the Senate, beginning a tenure that would stretch for more than two decades.

Graham became particularly influential on national security and foreign policy, building a reputation for advocating a muscular American presence abroad even as isolationist sentiment gained ground within parts of his own party.

Final farewell in South Carolina

Following Tuesday’s ceremonies in Washington, Graham will be remembered at additional funeral services in South Carolina on Wednesday.

He will then be laid to rest in his home state, closing the final chapter of a political career that took him from a small-town South Carolina upbringing to the centre of some of Washington’s biggest foreign policy battles.

(With Reuters inputs)