Lindsey Graham's decades-long obsession finally paid off —and it's costing lives

For nearly three decades, Senator Lindsey Graham has pursued a singular obsession: the overthrow of Iran's government. Now, with Donald Trump in the White House, that dream has become reality—but the costs are mounting far beyond what Graham envisioned, according to reporting from The Guardian.

Graham's fixation on Iran is longstanding. During the 1990s, he supported efforts to isolate Iran and curtail its nuclear programs. As the US prepared for war with Iraq in 2002, he warned repeatedly that Iran would exploit the conflict to expand its regional influence. When Barack Obama negotiated a nuclear agreement with Iran in 2015, Graham opposed it vehemently, urging preemptive US action to reduce Iran's military capabilities to "a shell of its former self," The Guardian reports.

For two decades, Graham's vision remained largely theoretical. But that changed when Trump returned to office.

According to The Guardian's reporting, Graham began laying groundwork months before Trump's second term began, telling the incoming president that collapsing Iran's government could be a "Berlin Wall moment" that would reshape the Middle East. In the weeks before the war commenced, Graham intensified his lobbying, discussing Iran strategy with Trump fewer than 48 hours before military operations began.

The influence worked. What had seemed like a distant dream for Graham suddenly became policy. The Trump administration launched military operations against Iran, marking the realization of his long-held ambition.

But Graham shows no sign of satisfaction. Even as the conflict continues, he has pushed for further escalation. On Fox News, Graham invoked the Battle of Iwo Jima—one of World War II's bloodiest battles—as a model for seizing Iran's main oil export hub, Kharg Island.

"We did Iwo Jima, we can do this," Graham said, comparing a potential ground invasion to the Pacific battle that killed nearly 7,000 American servicemen and wounded roughly 20,000 more.

The comparison alarmed even some Republicans. Congresswoman Nancy Mace of South Carolina responded sharply: "Lindsey Graham needs to be removed from the Situation Room. I don't want to hear one word from a guy with no kids, desperately sending our sons and daughters into war on the ground in Iran."

Yet Graham's influence remains undiminished. According to an NBC News poll, nine in 10 Republicans aligned with the MAGA movement still support the Iran war, suggesting Graham's vision aligns with the Trump base even as broader public disapproval grows.

Graham's transformation from Trump critic to loyalist is notable, The Guardian reports. In 2016, he fiercely opposed Trump's rise, posting on Twitter: "If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed … and we will deserve it." He dismissed Trump as a "jackass" and "the most flawed nominee in the history of the Republican party."

But when Trump proved unstoppable, Graham changed course. He was flattered by invitations to fly on Marine One and regularly played golf with the president. After John McCain's death in 2018—McCain had been Graham's mentor for decades—Graham appeared to redirect that loyalty toward Trump.

Reed Galen, deputy campaign manager for McCain's presidential campaign, told The Guardian: "After Senator McCain died Graham was searching for who the next star was he was going to hitch his wagon to, and it's been Trump."

There was one moment of apparent defection. After the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, Graham delivered an impassioned Senate floor speech: "All I can say is count me out. Enough is enough."

But when seven Republican senators voted to impeach Trump, Graham was not among them. By the 2024 election, he was firmly back on the Trump train, using golf outings and private conversations to persuade the president that Iran represented an opportunity for legacy-building, The Guardian reports.

Now, with the war underway, the human costs are accumulating. Iran has blockaded the Strait of Hormuz. Oil prices have surged. The conflict shows no sign of resolution, despite Trump's claims of impending victory.

Jon Hoffman, a research fellow in defense and foreign policy at the Cato Institute, characterized Graham's satisfaction as troubling, according to The Guardian: "You're seeing essentially a child on Christmas morning who has gotten everything that he's ever dreamed of. And that's not best for the country, obviously, but it's best for Lindsey Graham's ideology."

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