Hundreds of US lawmakers gathered in Washington on Tuesday to honour Lindsey Graham, the late Republican senator whose outspoken support for an assertive foreign policy made him one of the party’s last prominent hawks. Later, Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy also attended the funeral of an ally who forcefully lobbied Washington to back both countries during conflict. US president Donald Trump, ​who Graham denounced early in his political career before becoming a staunch supporter, was due to speak at the funeral at the Washington National Cathedral.“It really ended up being a great friendship,” Trump said of his fellow ⁠Republican in an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, praising Graham for his help navigating partisan politics in Washington. “If I needed a Democrat, he could usually produce that ‌Democrat ‌if ​I had to have them in an emergency. He was a great politician and a great gentleman.” US president Donald Trump, vice president JD Vance, secretary of treasury Scott Bessent, Eric Trump and Lara Trump attend the funeral service for US senator Lindsey Graham at the Washington National Cathedral. Photograph: Alex WROBLEWSKI/AFP/via Getty Images President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Finnish president Alexander Stubb attend the funeral services for the late US senator Lindsey Graham. Israeli prime minister Binuamin Netanyahu attends the funeral services for the late US senator Lindsey Graham. Photograph: EPA Graham, a South Carolina Republican who died suddenly from a heart ailment on July 11 at age 71, was a defence hawk who regularly called for an interventionist ⁠US role on the world stage and strongly backed both Israel and ​Ukraine.A longtime foreign policy hawk, Graham was working on a new Russia sanctions bill when he met Zelenskiy in Kyiv earlier this month, dying shortly after returning to Washington.On Sunday, the Wall Street Journal released footage shot by a documentary team in February, showing Graham’s delight over the Iran war and eager support for Netanyahu and Israel.Memorial events on Tuesday began on Capitol Hill, where Graham, a former US air force lawyer, was a member of the House for eight years and a senator for 23.US vice president JD Vance described Graham as a man of “swashbuckling” stature — “who swashbuckled into the Senate” with his suit jacket open — and was impossible not to like.“A true American original,” Vance said.From the Capitol Rotunda, the casket was taken to the Washington National Cathedral for an afternoon service.A congressional tribute to the late Lindsey Graham in the Rotunda of the US Capitol (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP) An Armed Forces Body Bearer Team moves the casket of Lindsey Graham (Rod Lamkey Jr/AP) On Wednesday, in Graham’s home state, ceremonies will begin with services and an F-16 flyover at the South Carolina state house in Columbia, followed by a procession to First Baptist Church for a public service. A private family burial will take place in Pickens county, home to Central, the small town where Graham and his younger sister and Senate successor, Darline, were born.The behind-the-scenes footage of Graham released by the Wall Street Journal was shot on the first day of US-Israeli strikes on Iran, a move long urged by Netanyahu and eagerly embraced by Trump.“I almost cried,” Graham said. “I mean, like, how long have we been pushing this? It’s here. I talked with Trump this morning. Holy Jack. It’s here. It’s the best thing I’ve ever done. He loves blowing stuff up.”At least 175 people, most of them schoolchildren, were killed in the Iranian city of Minab in those first strikes, in all likelihood by US missiles in a controversial “double tap” strike.Another clip released on Sunday showed Graham predicting that it would take “about three or four weeks” for attacks on Iran to cause the regime in Tehran to “start losing control of some cities” and for the US-Israeli effort to achieve “almost irreversible momentum”. That has not happened. Nor has the US joined Israeli attacks on Lebanon, as Graham was shown advocating to Netanyahu.In the footage, Graham also said: “Trump and Bibi [Netanyahu] are like Roosevelt and Churchill. They’re the right two guys to confront this evil.”As it turns out, Netanyahu and Trump’s relationship has been placed under considerable stress, with reports of angry confrontations.Zelenskiy, meanwhile, will hope for a more constructive Oval Office meeting than the now-famous occasion in February 2025, when he was upbraided by Trump and JD Vance, including for not wearing a suit.Relations between Kyiv and Washington have remained strained, even as Ukraine has gained the upper hand in its long fight against Russian invaders. - Guardian