Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a close ally of US President Donald Trump, has died at the age of 71. He died on Saturday evening following a “brief and sudden illness”, according to his office.
Elected to the Senate in 2002, the South Carolina politician was one of Washington’s most influential voices on foreign policy, often pushing for US military intervention overseas.
Donald Trump said Graham was a “true American Patriot” who would be “greatly missed”.
Preliminary findings from the medical examiner suggest Graham’s death was caused by a rupture of his aorta, a key artery in the heart, his spokesman said in a statement.
Graham had just returned from Kyiv, where he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday. There were no known health concerns ahead of his trip.