Excerpts from an upcoming documentary about Senator Lindsey Graham show him claiming he persuaded U.S. President Donald Trump to attack Iran alongside Israel, nearly weeping with joy when the war broke out, and lobbying for Trump to strike Lebanon as well.
Graham, who died July 11 at age 71, was a close adviser to both Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Both attended his funeral Tuesday.
British filmmaker Alex Holder and his team followed the Republican senator for three years to produce the documentary. They provided The Wall Street Journal with excerpts from over 400 hours of footage already shot.
One clip shows Graham speaking with the film crew shortly after watching Trump answer press questions on March 3 — the first such appearance since the U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iran on February 28, which killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and sparked war.
Graham laughs, visibly elated, and exclaims: “How long have we been pushing this?” “Look what we’ve done. I almost cried,” he says. “I talked to Trump this morning. Oh, he’s excited! He said ‘this is the best thing I’ve ever done.’ He likes blowing things up.”
Graham said he successfully convinced Trump to launch the war despite opposition from many within the president’s advisory team. He compared the Trump-Netanyahu alliance to the cooperation between President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill during World War II.
“There were a lot of people inside who didn’t want to do this, so I had a challenge. But President Trump, when he’s focused, he listens, asks good questions, doesn’t tweet nonsense,” Graham said. “He’s barely tweeted at all. No drama. He’s a great wartime president.”
Another clip captures a phone call between Graham and Netanyahu on March 4, two days after Hezbollah resumed rocket attacks on Israel in support of Iran. “Hi Bibi, this is Lindsey,” Graham begins. “I’m really impressed and very glad to be your friend.” Netanyahu replies: “Very glad you are my friend.”
Graham tells Netanyahu he plans to convince Trump to join Israel in bombing Hezbollah targets in Lebanon: “This weekend I will meet the president… I will try to get him to join you in Lebanon, maybe fly with you, would you like that?”
Netanyahu thought it a good idea but suggested postponement: “Right now we are focused on Iran. If we tell Hezbollah we will go all the way, we threaten them, but if we actually do it, they will have no reason not to attack us with full force. At this moment, it is not in our interest. We can do it later.”
The Wall Street Journal reported that some clips also show Graham’s frustration with Trump. In the documentary’s final interview, at a bagel shop in Columbia, South Carolina, in June, Graham expressed concern about a preliminary ceasefire deal Trump had signed with Iran. “He’s letting things slip away,” Graham said. “I have to go talk to him.”
