The Air Force is taking steps to rename Joint Base Charleston after Graham, a defense official confirmed. The Post and Courier first reported the renaming of the base in honor of the late senator.
The official confirmed that Air Force Secretary Troy Meink issued a memo this month directing the Air Force to begin the process of changing the base’s name.
Before he was elected to Congress, Graham served more than six years on active duty as a lawyer in the Air Force. After serving in the South Carolina Air National Guard for several years, he joined the Air Force Reserves, serving from 1995 to 2015 and retiring as a colonel.
President Trump walked into the Washington National Cathedral for the funeral shortly before 2 p.m., greeting Vice President JD Vance and taking a seat in the front of the cathedral.
Vice President JD Vance, in remarks at the Capitol ceremony for Graham this morning, fondly remembered Graham as a man who loved the Senate, South Carolina and people “from all walks of life, I think in part because of the way that he grew up, because [of] the fact that he wasn’t handed everything.”
He talked about Graham’s political savvy, recalling an argument the two had over Ukraine when Vance was still a senator. He said he thought he’d lost Graham’s support for a rail bill after their “intense argument” but later learned Graham was one of the most vocal supporters of Vance’s policy. He asked Graham why he backed it.
“I expected him to do what so many politicians would do. I expected him to lie and say, ‘Well, I really care about rail legislation.’ And he said, ‘Oh, I don’t care about that at all.’
“I said, ‘Why are you helping me?’ And he said, ‘Well, I don’t care about it, but you do.'”
Vance also credited Graham with saving Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination during his contentious confirmation hearings, when Kavanaugh faced a last-minute accusation of sexual assault from decades earlier: “What he saw happening to Kavanaugh was not a policy disagreement; it was character assassination. And Lindsey got as fiery and as passionate as I have ever seen a human being get during a judicial confirmation, and I believe that he saved that nomination.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy were spotted speaking ahead of the funeral. Both leaders had separate meetings with President Trump earlier in the day.
Zelenskyy said his meeting with the president was “good.” The White House has not yet released a readout of either meeting.
Cameras were too far away to tell what Zelenskyy and Netanyahu said. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin was also huddled with Zelenskyy and Netanyahu.
After that exchange, Netanyahu was spotted speaking with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
The speakers at Sen. Lindsey Graham’s funeral service include President Trump, who will give one of the eulogies.
Despite occasional political disagreements, Mr. Trump has called Graham “a great friend” and “one of the greatest people and senators I have ever known.”
Fox News’ Sean Hannity is also slated to give a eulogy, as is Graham’s niece, Emillie Boggs Roberts.
Clergy members taking part in the service include:
In an interview with Fox News Tuesday morning with “Fox and Friends,” President Trump said that though his relationship with Graham was at first a “little bit rough” — they were both vying for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination — they grew “closer and closer.”
The president said that “it really ended up being a great friendship,” and Graham “really became like a member of the family, in a sense.”
The president also maintained that Graham, despite his hawkishness on Iran, “over the last few weeks, I would say that he became like, ‘It’s better making a deal in this case than just destroying the rest of the country.'”
At a ceremony in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda Tuesday morning, Graham was remembered by fellow lawmakers as a “towering figure” in the Senate.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota said of Graham, “I feel his absence every day,” and he noted that “senators on both sides of the aisle counted on him as a friend.”
At the Capitol, Graham’s flag-draped casket was carried by U.S. Armed Forces pallbearers to honor his Air Force service, and a U.S. Capitol Police memorial guard stood watch as colleagues and loved ones paid their respects.
Tuesday’s remembrances of Graham will be followed by services in South Carolina on Wednesday morning, beginning with a procession at the South Carolina State House around 10:45 a.m.
During the funeral procession, Graham’s remains will be carried by members of the South Carolina State Guard, with a presentation of law enforcement and an F-16 flyover. The procession will conclude at the First Baptist Church of Columbia, where a funeral service will be held, followed by a private family burial in Pickens, South Carolina.
