Trump obsesses over his own mortality after Lindsey Graham's death: report

Sen. Lindsey Graham's sudden death earlier this month sent President Donald Trump reeling and sunk him into an obsession with his own mortality.Graham, at 71, was nearly a decade younger than the president and had remained visibly active — traveling, campaigning and working — right up until his death, and that contrast has clearly unsettled Trump, reported the Washington Post. In public remarks, he's repeatedly expressed disbelief that someone so energetic could be gone so quickly, telling NBC he "thought he was just going to live forever."“A lot of people can’t do it at all," Trump told “Fox & Friends” on July 13. "A lot of people, when the camera goes on, they’re terrible. I see it all the time. I watch people. Most people aren’t very good, and he did it and he did it with pride and he did it because he loved our country."Privately, according to people familiar with his comments, the 80-year-old Trump has pressed aides on whether Graham's grueling travel schedule — including a return trip from Ukraine shortly before his death — might have played a role, and has turned to genetics and family history for explanations, invoking what he called a "racehorse theory" of inherited strength and stamina.“His father died just about at the same age,” Trump told Newsmax on July 13. The introspection comes at a moment when Trump's own mortality has already been unusually present in his mind. Graham's death fell just before the second anniversary of the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, an event Trump says he still revisits by watching footage of it repeatedly, describing his survival as a "miracle."He has also faced more recent threats, including a reported Iranian-linked threat this month that prompted him to switch planes, and an attempted shooting near a White House correspondents' event in the spring.“Because of the position I’m in, I’ve done quite a bit of research into the word ‘assassination,’ Terrible word. And they go after consequential presidents,” Trump told CBS in April, after an attempted shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. “I wasn’t worried. I understand life. We live in a crazy world.”Those around Trump describe him as subdued in the days following Graham's death — a notable shift for a president known for near-constant motion and activity.Even so, he hasn't fully stepped back from politics: He's called on the Senate to pass a cryptocurrency bill "in honor of" Graham, despite the senator not having sponsored it.

WATCH LIVE: Mourners gather for Lindsey Graham’s funeral services in Washington

World leaders, politicians, and family members of late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) will gather in Washington on Tuesday for funeral services memorializing the well-known foreign policy hawk who unexpectedly died at 71 earlier this month. Graham’s remains will arrive at the Capitol at 10 a.m., his casket carried by service members and memorial guards to […]

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President Donald Trump on Tuesday morning is meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, shortly before the two leaders join a slew of other high-profile figures attending the late Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) funeral in Washington, D.C. Trump and Netanyahu are meeting around 11 a.m. at the White House. Their meeting […]

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The late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) will be honored in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on Tuesday morning ahead of his funeral service in Washington, D.C. Graham, who died July 11 at age 71 from an aortic dissection, was a staunch conservative and known war hawk. His dedication to fighting for Israel and Ukraine — including [...]

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Zelensky arrives in US for Trump meeting, Graham funeral

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Washington, D.C. early Tuesday morning for a meeting with President Trump and to attend the funeral for Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). “Our number-one priority is anti-ballistic defense and strategic cooperation with America. Peace needs to be brought closer,” Zelensky wrote in a post on X at 1:30 a.m. EDT. …