Remarks: Donald Trump Deliveres a Eulogy for Lindsey Graham - July 28, 2026

Thank you very much. Vice President Vance, members of the cabinet, members of the House and Senate, distinguished guests, Darline and the entire Graham family, we love you all. Today, we gather in the deepest gratitude and profoundest sorrow to honor a beloved friend, a devoted brother, a respected statesman, a giant of the United States Senate, and a true American original who left us much too soon, and that can only be the one and only Lindsey Graham.

By the strength of his steadfast convictions, the force of his magnetic personality, and the goodness of his noble soul, Lindsey rose from a small town in rural South Carolina, a place he loved so much to become a constant fixture of American politics at the highest level and a force to be reckoned with all over the world.

For more than 30 years, nothing of consequence happened in this capital without Lindsey Graham knowing about it, nothing of significance happened anywhere in the world without Lindsey Graham having a view on it, and no bill became law in the most exceptional republic human history without Lindsey Graham having a say in it. He was a man who gave America the full measure of his good and mighty heart, until that heart itself just gave out.

But even though Lindsey's life was cut short while he was still so full of vim and vigor, there can be no doubt that he lived absolutely to the fullest. He died doing the work he was born to do. He was truly a great politician, serving the country he loved to serve so deeply. He went out at the peak of his career and the top of his game as a legend that everyone of us, many of us here today, blessed to know him and a friend that none of us will ever forget.

There was truly nobody like Lindsey Graham. It was his hometown of central South Carolina that Lindsey first learned the art of politics. His parents ran a bar and pool hall on Main Street with a room in the back where the family spent and slept and did everything that you had to do. As Lindsey said, his father taught him the key to being a successful bar owner is that you have to be funny enough that people will keep coming back and that you have to be tough enough that you can stay in business and thrive, a very difficult combination.

For his entire storied career, that's exactly who Lindsey Graham was. He was the first person to make you laugh and one of the last people that you've really ever wanted to fight. These were the traits that made him into one of the great figures in Senate history, few like him. As a boy, Lindsey also learned his first lessons in diplomacy when the wife of one regular patron called the bar asking for her husband.

She demanded to know, "Where is he?" The man instructed Lindsey, "Tell her I'm not here." And young Lindsey nodded and said into the phone to the wife, "He said to tell you that he's not here. [Laughter] That was Lindsey. When Lindsey was just 20 years old, he lost his mom to cancer. 15 months later, he lost his dad.

Their deaths left his 13 year old sister, Darline, an orphan. But in God's mercy, she had her wonderful brother to take care of her. On top of it all, Lindsey became her guardian while still in college and helped raise her. He later said that, for all his achievements, and he had many, his single proudest accomplishment in life was how well Darline turned out.

He had total respect and love for Darline. Nothing could be more fitting than that woman, who was Lindsey's proudest legacy, now continues his legacy of service in the US Senate, a place that he cherished. And I have no doubt that he's looking down today beaming with pride at his sister, Senator Darline Graham.

Thank you, Senator. Lindsey first stormed into Washington with the Republican revolution of 1994, becoming the first Republican to win his House district in 120 years. That was Lindsey. In 2002, he ran for the Senate in what should have been a loss, and he swept to an easy victory. Lindsey quickly became a master at maneuvering in one of the world's great legislative bodies.

He secured record funding for our military as a Budget Committee chairman. He delivered the largest investment in border security in history, and last year he shepherded the passage of the largest tax cuts in American history, the great big beautiful bill. And a lot of Lindsey goodies in there, too, I can tell you.

And of course, he was also a great champion of the United States Supreme Court. His impassioned defense of a wonderful person, a great gentleman, Justice Kavanaugh, ended a disgraceful attack on this very good man and gave us one of the greatest moments the Senate has ever seen. It was a truly monumental moment in Senate history.

I believe it was Lindsey's perhaps finest hour. But no matter how heated things got in Washington, virtually everyone, Republican or Democrat, liked Lindsey. Well, not everybody, but it sounds good, not everybody. [Laughter] He was a tough cookie, ok? I have to be -- I have to veer from this for a second.

He was a tough cookie, Darline, but he was beautiful. But he was also ready with a joke and a gleam in his eye. After being lectured on the excruciating details of patent law by a fellow senator during a flight, Lindsey declared that he had discovered a new form of enhanced interrogation and torture for the Guantanamo Bay area.

He said this is really bad stuff and boring. And while he was an incredibly hard worker, he was not exactly an early riser, as many of you know. When Senator Tim Scott, a great gentleman in his own right, I can tell you, invited him to prayer breakfast at 8:30 AM, Lindsey told him, "Tim, if Jesus himself comes back before 10 AM, I ain't going." [Laughter] Yes, while he was always quick to laugh, and no one ever doubted the gravity of his mission above all, Lindsey Graham believed in a strong America, wanted a strong America.

He had unwavering faith in the righteousness of American power and prayer, and he was extremely hawkish. I will tell you he never saw a war that he didn't like. Only his true friends would understand that, but he wanted it for the good of our country. He felt in his bones that our destiny is to win, and that his job was to do everything he could to ensure our enemies would lose.

It was this conviction that led him to serve 33 years in uniform in the Air Force and Air Force Reserves and Air National Guard even while he was in office. And it was this conviction that took him as a senator to almost every country on earth, confronting America's adversaries and standing up for America's friends.

He had tremendous friendships all over the world. It's a testament to his towering impact that, among those mourning him here today, are leaders, presidents, prime ministers from all over the globe. They're sitting right here before you. Lindsey met countless world leaders. Yet wherever he went, he was always the same Lindsey Graham.

When he met Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi in a tent in the desert, he told him, "I expected something out of the Arabian Nights. This looks more like a Winnebago." That was not a good statement to make at the time. [Laughter] And when he met the Dalai Lama, Lindsey looked him straight in the eyes and said, "So, can you really levitate?" [Laughter] The Dalai Lama was not happy with that.

But no matter how high he rose, he never forgot where he came from. There's probably not a single town in South Carolina where Lindsey did not help repair a bridge, expand a school, improve a hospital, or recover from a disaster. He was a force of nature, and I will miss him greatly. As you remember, Lindsey and I did not exactly get off to the best of starts.

Running against each other back in 2016, Lindsey said something rather nasty on his flight to becoming the next president of the United States, so naturally I did something that I shouldn't have done. I shared his personal cell phone number with the millions of people that happened to be watching that particular day as I made a speech, a very important speech.

And I remember the number, (202) 228-0292 -- [Laughter] If anybody wants to give it a shot. His phone exploded. He said I had that number for 20 years. His phone totally -- I don't know what he did with it, but it exploded. That was the beginning of a friendship, in a way. But it was Lindsey who had the last laugh because, while I blew up his phone, oh, for one day, we became great friends, and Lindsey did not stop calling me for the next ten years.

It was not easy. I always cherish the memories of our golf games and only because of his really -- and I will say, this memorial service -- it's so hard to say a memorial service for Lindsey, it's hard to say. But I'll admit that one time Lindsey Graham and Annika Sorenstam actually beat me and Gary Player together, can you believe that?

Annika played very well that day, actually. [Laughter] But right to the end, Lindsey carried in his golf bag the putter that once belonged to his dad, and he carried it with him with class and with a ring that was so beautiful of his mother. And they were laying right at his bedside; the night he died they were there.

He had them with him at all times. From that pool hall where his parents raised him to the halls of the United States Senate, where he was respected and loved. This son of South Carolina became one of the most important men in the most important country on earth. In a city where politicians often become jaded and cynical, Lindsey Graham never lost the old-fashioned American idealism that brought him to the highest levels of government and life.

He took his duty seriously without taking himself too seriously. He was unwavering in his principles, but always willing to listen. He always wanted to listen. And one thing about Lindsey that we all know, he never quit. You wanted him to quit, you waited for him to quit, but he would never quit. Above all, Lindsey Graham loved America and he believed in the American people.

If you shared that view, you had a friend in Lindsey. If you didn't share it, there was no fiercer or more constant opponent. Our nation needs more men and women like that great person sitting -- laying wherever he may be. I think I know where he is, and I think he's up there; I think he's watching us, I'm pretty sure of it. Scripture tells us that blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life.

For 71 years, Lindsey Graham was strong and steadfast. As a brother, a Senator, a warrior, and a patriot he withstood every last test, every single test that you can go through and every trial. And now he wears the crown of life in heaven, reunited with his parents and reunited with his Lord. I end by saying something very, very special.

Lindsey, we love you, God bless you. We will always be with you, and you were very, very special. Thank you. Thank you very much.