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Sen. Lindsey Graham died on Saturday, and the main mystery of the last decade of his life is why he grew so loyal to—so enamored, even worshipful of—Donald Trump.

Throughout his four terms as U.S. senator, Graham was an avid supporter of NATO and distrustful of Russia—while Trump has railed against allies and cozied up to Vladimir Putin. In the 2010s, Graham formed coalitions across the aisle for compromise legislation on climate change and immigration reform—while Trump has derided the former as a hoax and the latter as a danger. Perhaps most jarring of all, Graham was best friends with the late Sen. John McCain, often traveling with him on foreign trips (they and Sen. Joe Lieberman were known as “the three amigos,” in playful homage to the movie of that title)—while Trump repeatedly insulted McCain, even berating his war record, both before and after he died. (One of McCain’s last wishes was that Trump not be invited to his memorial service.)

In the early days of the 2016 presidential campaign, Graham denounced Trump as a “race-baiting, xenophobic religious bigot” and said, “You know how you make America great again? Tell Donald Trump to go to hell.” He later said that he voted for third-party candidate Evan McMullin rather than cast a ballot for Trump or Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

But his tune changed after Trump unexpectedly won. Before and after, during Trump’s first and second terms, Graham stood by Trump constantly, defending his views even when they differed from his own. Even on Ukraine, which Graham has strongly supported in its fight against Russia’s invasion, Graham backed Trump’s switch from military aid to loans and even defended his conduct in the February 2025 Oval Office meeting in which Trump publicly blasted Volodymyr Zelensky for insufficient gratitude, saying he had “never been more proud” of his president and urged the Ukrainians to unseat........

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