Newly released footage shows Sen. Lindsey Graham saying he was the one who convinced US President Donald Trump to join Israel in the war against Iran, saying he was “nearly crying” with joy when the conflict began and offering to encourage Trump to also attack Lebanon on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s behalf.
Mr. Graham, who died on July 11 at the age of 71, was a close ally of Mr. Trump and Mr. Netanyahu and is scheduled to attend his funeral on Tuesday.
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British filmmaker Alex Holder and his team were granted special access to closely follow the hawkish Republican senator over the past three years for a planned documentary, and provided the Wall Street Journal with recent excerpts from the more than 400 hours of footage they have amassed.
One excerpt shows Mr. Graham chatting with documentary production staff shortly after seeing President Trump answer questions from reporters on television on March 3, the first time since the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran on February 28 that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and started the war.
Laughing and clearly delighted, Graham exclaimed, “How long have you been pushing this?”
“Look at what we’ve done here. It almost brought me to tears,” Graham said. “I talked to Trump this morning. Oh, he’s fooled! He said, ‘Best thing ever.’ He loves blowing things up.”
Mr. Graham said Mr. Trump was successful in persuading Mr. Netanyahu to go to war despite the opposition of many in the president’s circle, and likened the alliance between Mr. Trump and Mr. Netanyahu to the partnership between President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill during World War II.
“I mean, it was difficult for me because there were a lot of people internally who didn’t want to do that. But President Trump, when he gets in the zone, he listens, he asks good questions, you know, he doesn’t tweet,” Graham said.
“He hasn’t tweeted at all. There’s no drama. He was a great wartime president,” Graham continued. “I said last night that Trump and Bibi are like Roosevelt and Churchill, which means they’re the right two people to stand up to this evil.”
“Hi Bibi, Lindsey.”
Another section of the video shows part of a phone conversation between Graham and Netanyahu on March 4, two days after Hezbollah resumed rocket attacks on Israel in support of Iran.
“Hi Bibi, Lindsay,” Graham began, using Netanyahu’s nickname.
“I’m very touched. I’m glad we’re friends,” he continued in his distinctive South Carolina voice.
Prime Minister Netanyahu replied: “I’m glad you’re my friend.”
Mr. Graham told Mr. Netanyahu that he intended to persuade Mr. Trump to join Israel in bombing Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. “I’m going to meet with the president this weekend…I’m going to try to get him to join us with everyone in Lebanon. Maybe we’ll get on a plane together, how about that?”
“I think you have a point,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, telling Graham to refrain from speaking.
“We are now focused on Iran,” Netanyahu said. “If we say we’re going to go all out with Hezbollah, we’re going to threaten them, but if we actually do it, there’s no reason why they won’t go all out against us. And right now, it’s not in our interest. We can do it later.”
The Wall Street Journal said some of the footage showed Mr. Graham at times expressing frustration with Mr. Trump.
In the documentary’s final interview, which took place in June at a bagel shop in Columbia, South Carolina, Graham expressed concerns about President Trump’s interim cease-fire agreement with Iran, the paper said.
“He’s missed this,” Graham said. “I have to go talk to him.”
