Trump Says Graham Was ‘A Little Tired’ in Phone Call Hours Before Death

President Donald Trump on Sunday expressed shock and sadness at the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), saying he’d spoken to the senator on Saturday evening, shortly before Graham died.

“He said, ‘I feel good, but I’m tired,'” Trump told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday morning. “He was fine. I knew him well. He would let you know if he wasn’t feeling well. He he had days when he didn’t feel so well, and he’d let you know about it.”

Trump said that the senator had “just landed from Ukraine,” adding, “He sounded a little bit tired, but perfect, but a little bit tired. He had a right to be. I mean, he was a worker. He was really a worker. But he sounded great.”

The president said that it was just a few hours later, at about 1 a.m., that Graham’s office informed him that that the senator had passed away.

“I said, ‘You guys, I just can’t believe it.’ He was like a member of the family to me,” Trump said, adding that “there was nobody like him. He loved being a politician. And he was going to win his election.”

“He’s a tough one to lose,” the president said. “He was great. He was unique in every way, actually.”

Graham, considered a close Trump ally, died after “brief and sudden illness,” his office said in a statement on Saturday evening. He was 71 years old. The statement posted on social media early Sunday said his family “appreciates prayers at this time and asks for privacy during this incredibly difficult period.”

It did not provide any additional details about the circumstances surrounding the death of Graham, a former Air Force lawyer who served in Congress for three decades.

When asked by NBC if he had a preferred candidate who could replace Graham in the Senate, Trump said that he has a person in mind. He did not provide a name, saying he wanted to hold off on an announcement out of respect for the Graham.

“I have somebody that I think would be great, but I don’t want to say it now because it’s just too soon with Lindsey,” the president said. “I don’t even want to talk about anybody, but I do have somebody who I think is really good.”

Describing South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster as a “good friend of mine,” Trump said that McMaster is “going to do the right thing” with the now-vacant Senate seat.

“But ultimately, there’s going to be an election pretty soon, as I understand the rules. Every state is different. But ultimately they’ll have an election,” he said. “They’ll have some people joining. Some are good. Some are bad. But I have somebody that I like. But I’m not going to tell you who now because it’s too soon.”

Graham, a longtime U.S. foreign policy hawk, had just been in Ukraine to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said the senator had visited Ukraine 10 times since Russia invaded the country in February 2022. “Lindsey was a true defender of freedom and the values that make our world safer,” Zelenskyy said in response to the senator’s death.

He was also one of the chief backers of Trump’s war in Iran, having advocated for years for a direct confrontation between Washington and Tehran, as well as a major backer of Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Graham understood that the security of Israel and the United States was inseparable.

“Israel has lost one of its greatest friends,” Netanyahu said in a statement released by the Israeli government on Sunday. “America has lost a great patriot. I have lost a beloved friend.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.