US senator and Trump ally Lindsey Graham dies aged 71

Senator Lindsey Graham, an influential ally of President Donald Trump and advocate of hawkish US foreign policy, has died unexpectedly aged 71, his office said on Sunday.

Graham was a staunch supporter of the Iran war, and in recent years urged both Trump and the Biden administrations to back Kyiv's fight against Russia's invasion.

He bitterly opposed Trump a decade ago, but came around to support him.

Graham did so even after the 2021 Capitol insurrection in which lawmakers feared for their lives as a pro-Trump mob ran amok at the seat of US democracy.

The Republican senator from South Carolina's office said in a statement on his official X account that he "passed away from a brief and sudden illness" on Saturday evening.

NBC News reported that emergency services responded to a call for "cardiac arrest" at Graham's Capitol Hill home on Saturday night, according to police scanner audio obtained by NBC and other outlets.

Trump paid tribute to the late senator, calling him "one of the greatest people" in a post on his Truth Social site.

"He was always working, and was a true American Patriot," the president said.

Graham had been scheduled to appear Sunday morning on the NBC news talk show "Meet the Press."

He made a failed bid for the presidency in 2016, warning at the time that Republicans should not back Trump because he was a "race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot."

Their relationship was again strained by the January 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection, with Graham saying his Republican colleagues should "count me out, enough is enough" -- although he later voted against convicting Trump in his impeachment trial.

Graham reconciled their relationship and backed his re-election bid.

- 'A great friend of Israel' -

Graham was also a strong supporter of Israel and the Iran war.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "Lindsey is a great friend of Israel and a cherished friend of mine."

"Lindsey understood that the security of Israel and America are inseparable. He devoted his life to defending America, strengthening our alliance and standing up for the free world," Netanyahu said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was deeply saddened by the death of Graham, whom he met in Kyiv as recently as Friday.

"He visited Ukraine ten times during the years of Russia's full-scale invasion and was here with our people when it was most needed... America and the world have lost a determined leader," Zelensky said in a Facebook post.

Graham had recently won a primary election to seek a fourth Senate term in the November mid-terms.

South Carolina governor Henry McMaster will have to appoint a successor for the remaining months of Graham's term while another primary will need to be held.

- Foreign policy hawk -

Graham's death comes as the weeks-long hospitalization of former Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell rattles the party.

Republicans hold a narrow 53-47 majority in the Senate, with little room for missing votes or defections. McConnell was admitted to hospital last month and has not voted since June 11.

Graham was first elected to the US House of Representatives in 1994, before being elected to the Senate in 2002.

He was re-elected to the Senate in 2008, 2014 and 2020 and most recently served as chairman of the Senate Budget Committee.

Raised in the town of Central, South Carolina, where his parents ran a restaurant and pool hall, Graham was the first in his family to go to college, according to his biography on the Senate website.

He served as a military lawyer and attained the rank of Air Force colonel, an experience that informed his interventionist stance in foreign affairs.

In 2002, he voted in favor of military action against Iraq in the wake of the September 11 attacks, and later supported a long-term US presence in Afghanistan.

Graham was a frequent critic of President Barack Obama's foreign policy, calling him a "weak opponent of evil" in 2015 over his negotiation of a nuclear deal with Iran.