Trump says ‘I have somebody’ to replace Lindsey Graham after senator’s death

Trump went on to heap praise on Gov. Henry McMaster (R-SC), who has the sole authority to appoint Graham’s replacement, per South Carolina law. Trump’s hold on the party means he has the de facto say over who gets appointed.

The president took time to get in a swipe against Nikki Haley, his former U.N. ambassador and 2024 rival.

“I removed somebody from office that I didn’t think was so good, moved her over to the United Nations … because the United Nations job was not exactly tough. Yeah, it could be very important, but she was OK at it,” he said, referring to Haley.

“But I did it because Henry McMaster was the lieutenant governor, and by moving her, I got myself a great, really a great guy. Henry McMaster has been a really good governor, really good guy,” Trump said.

The subject then shifted to Iran, which was struck by U.S. forces again overnight. Trump first rejected the question about whether the Strait of Hormuz was open, saying he only wanted to talk about Graham.

“I don’t want to talk about it because I want to honor the life of Lindsey Graham. So I don’t want to talk about it. I told you that before the call,” he began.

But Trump then went on to answer the question, saying the strait is open. “We bombed the hell out of them last night,” Trump said, going on to trash the Iranian leadership, echoing other comments over the past week.

“They’re very, very evil and sick people. We had meetings with them. … They agreed to a deal yesterday, a perfect deal for us. No nuclear, no this, no that, no nothing. They gave up everything, and then after that they left the room, and then within an hour they launched a drone and a ship,” Trump said.

“I said, ‘You people are sick. You’re sick people,’ and so it’s one of those things, I don’t want to talk about it. I want to talk about one person today — Lindsey Graham,” he continued.

Trump also appeared on CNN, where he addressed the two’s differences on Ukraine. When asked about how influential Graham was on his foreign policy, he said they “disagreed a little bit.”

“I wanted to see the war with Ukraine end very quickly. I think he was more into keeping it going, frankly. He was very militant having to do with that. But I was from the standpoint of 25,000 people dying every month; I didn’t like that,” Trump said.

TRUMP SAYS LINDSEY GRAHAM WAS ‘A LITTLE TIRED’ IN PHONE CALL ‘SHORTLY BEFORE’ DEATH

However, Trump said Graham was a “very strong military person” like him, then said they “essentially agreed on almost everything.”

Trump ordered flags to be flown at half-staff to honor Graham. He died from a “brief and sudden illness” on Saturday evening, according to his office.