By Jim Thomas | Sunday, 26 July 2026 03:21 PM EDT
Late Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) spent his final months privately urging President Donald Trump and foreign leaders to escalate hostilities against Iran, at one point securing a rare word of restraint from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The footage, captured over more than 400 hours by British filmmaker Alex Holder for a project titled “Lindsey’s Game,” provides insight into the senator’s pivotal role in Trump’s second-term foreign policy during the weeks leading up to his sudden death on July 11.
A notable exchange occurred on March 4, days following the U.S. and Israel’s initiation of operations against Iran. Graham had planned a Florida trip to convince Trump to join Israel in targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon when he called Netanyahu. The prime minister, speaking by phone, expressed caution: “We’re concentrating right now on Iran,” Netanyahu stated. “If we tell Hezbollah that we’re going all the way, we threaten them, but if we actually do it, then they have no reason not to go all the way against us.” Graham abandoned the proposal, acknowledging, “That’s actually good counsel.”
In other moments, Graham expressed near elation upon hearing about the initial strikes: “Look what we’ve done here. I almost cried,” he told the film crew. He later relayed Trump’s enthusiastic response: “I talked to Trump this morning—he’s jacked. He said, ‘Best thing I have ever done.’ He loves blowing stuff up.”
Graham also drew parallels between Trump and Netanyahu and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. During a March conversation with former Biden national security adviser Jake Sullivan, Graham forecasted that Iranian forces would lose control of major cities within three to four weeks—a prediction the conflict has since surpassed.
Holder, known for his prior documentary on the January 6 Capitol riot, traveled extensively with Graham over several years. This included meetings with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to bolster support for the Iran campaign and sessions with Israeli officials and the Mossad. Some individuals Graham spoke with by phone were unaware their conversations were being recorded.
The footage also reveals friction within Graham’s circle. He told Sullivan that Trump’s Middle East envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff were “too conflicted” to lead Iran diplomacy, insisting the task should fall to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. In what Holder described as the film’s final interview at a Columbia, South Carolina, bagel shop weeks before Graham died, the senator voiced frustration after Trump signed a preliminary agreement with Iran in June: “He’s letting this thing slip away,” Graham said. “I got to go talk to him.”
Graham, 71, passed away on July 11 due to an aortic dissection following a trip to Ukraine. Holder remains working through hundreds of hours of footage and plans to release the film in coming months.
