President Donald Trump delivered a powerful eulogy for the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) at Washington National Cathedral Tuesday, with world leaders, cabinet members, members of Congress, and Graham’s family in attendance.
After a choir rendition of “How Great Thou Art,” the president took the altar to honor the late senator.
“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 in human history without Lindsey Graham having a say in it.”
Trump praised Graham’s decades of service, calling him “a great politician, serving the country he loved to serve so deeply.”
The president revealed that Graham “learned the art of politics” in his family’s pool hall, where his father taught him to balance being funny enough so patrons would return but tough enough so the business could thrive.
“That’s exactly who Lindsey Graham was,” Trump said. “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.”
Trump noted that Graham became the guardian of his sister, Darline Graham Nordone, after their parents passed when he was in his early 20s and she was in her adolescence.
Darline has succeeded her brother in the U.S. Senate and is running with Trump’s endorsement in the special election.
“Nothing could be more fitting than that woman, who was Lindsey’s proudest legacy, now continues his legacy of service in the U.S. Senate, a place that he cherished, and I have no doubt that he is looking down today, beaming with pride at his sister, Senator Darlene Graham,” Trump said.
Trump highlighted that Graham was the first Republican to win his district in more than 120 years when he came to Washington after Republicans won in 1994.
“He secured record funding for our military as a budget committee chairman,” Trump stated. “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—had a lot of Lindsey goodies in there too.”
The president emphasized that leaders from around the globe came to Washington Tuesday to pay their respects.
“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, sitting right here before you. Lindsey met countless world leaders. Yet wherever he went, he was always the same Lindsey Graham,” Trump said.
Trump shared two hilarious stories of interactions between Graham and the deceased Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi and the Dalai Lama.
“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,” Trump said, sending Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, sitting in a pew, bursting out in laughter.
“And when he met the Dalai Lama, Lindsey looked him straight in the eyes and said, ‘So, can you really levitate?’ The Dalai Lama was not happy with that,” the president continued.
Trump also spoke about the beginning of his and Graham’s relationship more than a decade ago during the Republican primaries for the 2016 presidential nomination, noting they “did not exactly get off to the best of starts.”
The president noted that in response to something Graham said that he did not like during the campaign, he publicly shared Graham’s cell phone number.
“But it was Lindsey who had the last laugh, because while I blew up his phone for one day, we became great friends, and Lindsey did not stop calling me for the next ten years.”
“Lindsey, we love you. God bless you. We will always be with you, and you were very, very special,” Trump said at the conclusion of his remarks.
.@POTUS arrives at Washington National Cathedral — joining @VP, the Cabinet, members of his family, and many others to celebrate the life and legacy of Senator Lindsey O. Graham. pic.twitter.com/3CG83GqmFH
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 28, 2026
.@POTUS: 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 in… pic.twitter.com/15d6m7UjVW
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 28, 2026
