Trump says he spoke with Sen. Lindsey Graham hours before his death

CongressTrump says he spoke with Sen. Lindsey Graham hours before his deathPresident Donald Trump said Sen. Lindsey Graham called him to discuss the SAVE America Act on Saturday. Listen to this article with a free profile00:0000:00President Donald Trump said he spoke with South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham on Saturday to discuss the SAVE Act hours before he died. Saul Loeb / AFP via Getty Images fileShareAdd NBC News to GoogleJuly 12, 2026, 9:31 AM EDTBy Megan BrandPresident Donald Trump said in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he spoke with Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on Saturday night, hours before the senator died. Subscribe to read this story ad-freeGet unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.Trump said that “other than being tired, he was fine,” adding that he believed Graham’s death was a “quick end, and maybe that’s not the worst way to go.”The late senator was a close ally of Trump, and the president described him to “Meet the Press” as someone who was “like a member of the family to me.” The two spoke regularly on the phone and golfed together. Graham had just returned from a trip to Ukraine before his sudden death. The president said that Graham called him in the early evening to discuss the SAVE America Act, a bill that would reshape how elections operate but does not have enough support to pass the Senate. “He actually said he was tired, but he wanted to pass the SAVE America Act, and I said, ‘Well, we’re going to get it done, Lindsey. We’re going to get it done. I’ll see you, like, soon,’” Trump told “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker, adding that the two believed they might meet on Sunday.ShareAdd NBC News to GoogleMegan BrandMegan Brand is a politics reporter for NBC News.Scott Wong and Frank Thorp V contributed.