U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) holds a hat reading "Make Iran Great Again" at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 24, 2026. REUTERS/Nathan Howard
In Feb. 2016, then-candidate Donald Trump blasted Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), assuming he'd start World War III. Now, it's Trump that is on board with war after one commentator said Graham led Trump on a leash toward the attacks on Iran.
“He’s one of the dumbest human beings I’ve ever seen… you’ll end up starting World War III with a guy like that," Trump told Fox News.
Writing for Zeteo.com, Prem Thakker alleged that it was Graham who "helped dog-walk him into his disastrous war in Iran — a baseless and illegal conflict that’s pierced the illusion that the president is a dovish exception to the bloodthirsty conservative movement."
Graham has hedged these past few weeks, saying that he wants regime change to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. However, he's also demanded that countries in the region get involved in the effort with the U.S.
“We’re going to blow the hell out of these people,” Graham pledged. “When this regime goes down, we’re going to have a new Mideast,” he fantasized.
He then gave away the game: “We’re going to make a ton of money," he said, explaining that “Venezuela and Iran have 31 percent of the world’s oil reserves.”
Thakker noted that Graham seemed to gleefully brandish a hat reading "Free Cuba," indicating that the president is working his way through the list of nations he appears to want to impact. After his attack on Venezuela, Trump explained that his foreign policy doctrine has been about the Western hemisphere. Then he waged the Iran war.
On Sunday, after Israel bombed several oil facilities, Thakker noted that Graham rushed to Fox cameras to rejoice: “Donald J. Trump saved the world from real chaos… Thank God Trump did this.”
"Graham’s PR role for Trump’s war is all the more interesting given his apparent role in making the war happen," Thakker closed. "The efforts have been as pathetically paternalistic as Graham reportedly playing a word-association game with our man-child president, encouraging him to go to war."