Topline
President Donald Trump detailed his once-rocky relationship with Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on Monday, less than two days after Graham’s sudden death, joking about his weak golfing skills and recalling Graham’s opposition to Trump’s first presidential run.
President Donald Trump (R) and U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) speak to the media aboard Air Force One enroute to Washington, DC on January 04, 2026. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
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Key Facts
Trump said during a Fox News interview, Graham regularly phoned him, and he told him, “‘Stop calling me, Lindsey’ . . . he just didn’t stop.”
Recalling their frequent golf games together, Trump said Graham wasn’t a “great striker of the ball” and “wasn’t Tiger.”
Trump also noted Graham’s criticism of him when he first ran for president and in the wake of the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, telling Fox, Graham was “totally against me” in 2016 and that he had “one bad moment” on Jan. 6, when Graham said after the riots he had reached his breaking point with Trump.
Graham repaired his relationship with Trump after the 2016 election, becoming one of the president’s closest confidants and a key liaison between the White House and Senate.
Trump, who has also praised Graham in the wake of his death, said he spoke to the senator shortly before he died on Saturday night after Graham returned from a trip to Ukraine.
This is a developing story and will be updated.