Trump Says Lindsey Graham ‘Liked War’—After Viral Clip Of Late Senator Celebrating Iran Attacks

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Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., “was a guy that liked war,” President Donald Trump said Tuesday, hours before he’s set to speak at Graham’s funeral and a day after a clip of Graham celebrating the U.S. strikes on Iran in February went viral.

“He was a guy that liked war,” Trump told Fox News, adding, “I jokingly say, and there’s nothing funny about it, that he’s never seen a war he didn’t like. He was very much into that.”

In the clip, taken by British filmmaker Alex Holder for a forthcoming documentary about Graham, the late senator laughed while watching the news about the strikes in his office: “Look what we’ve done here. I almost cried,” he said, adding that he spoke to Trump earlier that day and, “he’s jacked . . . he loves blowing stuff up.”

Trump said that Graham, known for his hawkish foreign policy views and fierce defense of Israel and Ukraine, “over the last few weeks, I would say that he became like, ‘it’s better making a deal in this case than just destroying the rest of the country,’” referring to negotiations with Iran.

Trump made the comments as he appears more open to winding down the conflict amid waning support among his base and ballooning costs.