Trump Pays Tribute to 'a True American Original'

Sen. Lindsey Graham, the son of pool hall owners who rose to become one of his generation's more influential US politicians at home and abroad, was eulogized Tuesday as "a true American original" during memorial services in Washington. Graham's flag-draped casket arrived for a tribute at the US Capitol, where the Republican served for more than 30 years as an indefatigable dealmaker, the AP reports. Later, President Trump joined foreign leaders for a funeral at Washington National Cathedral, a testament to Graham's stature on the global stage.

Trump called Graham "a giant of the United States Senate, a true American original who left us much too soon." In mostly prepared remarks, Trump described his onetime presidential rival turned ally as "the first person to make you laugh and one of the last people that you've really ever wanted to fight."

• Trump told the story of how he had publicly disclosed Graham's cellphone number on the campaign trail, reciting the number in the cathedral, but said the senator had the last laugh because "Lindsey did not stop calling me for the next 10 years."
• "I will tell you, he never saw a war that he didn't like," Trump said, per the Guardian. "Only his true friends would understand that. But he wanted it for the good of our country."
• "For more than 30 years, nothing of consequence happened in this Capitol without Lindsey Graham knowing about it," Trump said, per Fox News. "Nothing of significance happened anywhere in the world without Lindsey Graham having a view on it. And no bill became law… without Lindsey Graham having a say in it. He was a man who gave America the full measure of his good and mighty heart."

• Among those gathered were Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky, leaders of two countries fighting separate wars, a nod to Graham's role as a foremost believer in the power of the US and its military to intervene in the world's problems. Fox News' Sean Hannity, in his remarks, said Graham would have been moved that they both made the long journeys to attend.
• Trump Cabinet officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh,, and current and former senators and lawmakers joined in the pews, as did Graham's sister, now- Sen. Darline Graham, who was appointed by the state's governor to fill the remainder of her brother's term. Fox reports that much of the Senate was also present, including Sen. John Fetterman, who, unlike during Trump's second inauguration, was wearing a suit.
• During the morning service in the Capitol Rotunda, Vice President JD Vance described Graham as a man of "swashbuckling" stature and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, choking back tears, called him a "towering figure."
• One by one, many of Graham's colleagues said their goodbyes in the Rotunda. GOP Sen. Katie Britt placed both hands on his casket and then placed her hand on her heart. Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth saluted from her wheelchair. Former GOP Sen. Richard Burr, bowed and delivered a brief kiss and GOP Sen. John Kennedy gave a fist bump.
• It was the start of two days of services, with burial Wednesday in Graham's home state of South Carolina. Joint Base Charleston will be renamed in his honor, an Air Force official said. Graham died suddenly on July 11 at his home in Washington of a likely aortic tear, according to preliminary findings. He was 71.