In foreign policy, what does it take to get what you want from Donald Trump? One approach is to go all in on obsequious praise. That has been the route taken by many prominent Republicans, including the late Sen. Lindsey Graham.
Part of the internationalist wing of the GOP, Graham turned from a Trump-skeptic to one of Trump’s staunchest supporters in the Senate. Indeed, after winning his recent primary in his home state of South Carolina, he began his victory address by thanking two people: God and Trump, in that order, though he said the president “was not far behind God.”
Graham, who passed away last weekend at the age of 71, zig-zagged from sounding warnings about Trump during the 2016 election before embracing him during his first term. Graham then declared himself done with Trump after Trump’s attempted coup on Jan. 6, 2021, only to shift course again and ingratiate himself with Trump over frequent rounds of golf.