PoliticsDonald Trump Admits 'Not Everyone Liked' Lindsey Graham During Senator's Funeral Eulogy
Lindsey Graham died on July 11 at the age of 71.
July 28 2026, Published 6:11 p.m. ET
Lindsey Graham was laid to rest on Tuesday, July 28, during his funeral service at the Washington National Cathedral in D.C.
At the event, Donald Trump paid tribute to the late South Carolina senator, who died at the age of 71 on July 11 — though the president, 80, decided to throw in some punches as well.
Donald Trump paid tribute to Lindsey Graham during his funeral on Tuesday, July 28.
Donald Trump Said 'Virtually Everyone' Liked the Late Senator
Donald Trump called Lindsey Graham a 'tough cookie.'
"Virtually everyone — Republican or Democrat — liked Lindsey. Well, not everyone. But it sounds good. Not everybody. He was a tough cookie. I have to veer from this for a second. He was a tough cookie, but he was beautiful," Trump said to the audience.
The politician also labeled Graham as a "legend," and called him a "giant of the U.S. Senate."
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Lindsey Graham died due to cardiac arrest.
Trump then recalled a funny story about himself and Graham from 2016, saying that during a heated moment, he shared the attorney's person phone number with millions of people.
"It was something I shouldn't have done," Trump admitted. "But it was Lindsey who had the last laugh because while I blew up his phone for one day, we became great friends."
"Lindsey did not stop calling me for the next 10 years," the businessman quipped.
Donald Trump spoke with Lindsey Graham just a day before he passed away.
"He never saw a war that he didn't like," Trump went on about Graham's military-like stance. "Only friends would understand that. But he wanted it for the good of our country."
"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 really ever wanted to fight," the POTUS' homage continued.
Trump added Graham "died doing the work he was born to do," referencing the Air Force veteran's trip to Ukraine the day before he passed away. Graham had also been in meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his visit.
Lindsey Graham Died on July 11 From a Ruptured Aorta
Donald Trump, J.D. Vance and other political dignitaries attended Lindsey Graham's funeral at the Washington National Cathedral on July 28.
Graham died earlier this month due to a ruptured aorta brought on by chronic heart disease. He was found dead at his Washington, D.C., residence shortly after he came back home from the Eastern European country.
His office initially only noted he perished from a “brief and sudden illness" and suffered from "cardiac arrest."
“Senator Graham’s family appreciates prayers at this time and asks for privacy during this incredibly difficult period," their statement said.
Paramedics were seen carrying a person on a stretcher from Graham's home into an ambulance to be transferred to George Washington Hospital on July 11, with police cars and fire trucks also being spotted at the scene.
Trump told NBC's Meet the Press on July 12 he spoke with the senator the evening before he died.
