A filmmaker followed Graham for 3 years covering visits with Trump and Netanyahu.
Graham’s Obsessive Push for Iran War
The Wall Street Journal reports Unreleased Documentary Footage Captures Graham’s Obsessive Push for Iran War – Free LInk
Sen. Lindsey Graham planned to travel to Florida in early March to persuade President Trump to join Israel in the bombing of Hezbollah in Lebanon—until a friend talked him out of it.
The friend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told him on a call before the trip that bringing the U.S. into the operation, in the midst of the Iran war, was going too far, too fast, according to unreleased footage from a documentary about the South Carolina Republican lawmaker that was being filmed before he died earlier this month.
“We’re concentrating right now on Iran,” Netanyahu said on the March 4 call, according to the footage, which was viewed by The Wall Street Journal. “If we tell Hezbollah that we’re going all the way, we threaten them, but if we actually do it, then they have no reason not to go all the way against us. And right now that’s not our interest,” he said on speakerphone.
“That’s actually good counsel,” Graham replied from his Senate office, which was covered with Trump hats, scattered papers and Planters Peanuts, with a bottle of bourbon on the shelf.
The extraordinary exchange was captured by the documentary filmmaker Alex Holder, who had been granted extensive access to Graham since 2023.
“Look what we’ve done here. I almost cried,” he tells the crew, laughing loudly just after U.S. strikes on Iran began in February. “How long have we been pushing this?”
He then tells the crew that Trump was equally happy about the war. “I talked to Trump this morning, he’s jacked, he said, ‘best thing I have ever done.’ He loves blowing stuff up.”
The footage shows the documentary crew regularly traveling with Graham, sitting in the back seat and filming as he takes phone calls from the front seat. Graham let the crew stay in the room for sensitive meetings, and some of the people Graham spoke with by phone told the Journal they didn’t know the calls were being recorded.
It includes Graham flying to meet with Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to sell him on the war in Iran; calling the military commanders about the war; speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky; huddling with other world leaders; and expressing candid thoughts on a range of American political figures.
The footage also shows Graham’s occasional frustration with Trump, particularly for signing a preliminary deal with Iran in June. The project’s final interview was at a bagel shop in Columbia, S.C., in June, weeks before his death. Graham then says even Trump is growing too wobbly on the war. “He’s letting this thing slip away,” Graham said. “I got to go talk to him.”
Graham said Trump didn’t care about abortion, according to Holder.
At one point, when Graham looked “absolutely disheveled and exhausted,” Holder said, the senator complained that others weren’t helping him.
“He’d say, ‘There’s no way I can die yet,’” Holder said.
Netanyahu Meets Trump Tomorrow
Reuters reports Netanyahu Says Iran Is Top Agenda in Meeting with Trump
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu departed to Washington on Monday, where he said he would meet U.S. President Donald Trump for their first face-to-face talks since the start of their conflict with Iran.
It will be Netanyahu’s eighth meeting with Trump since the U.S. president returned to office, and their first since February, right before Israel and the United States launched a joint aerial campaign against Iran.Israel had not taken part in a two-week U.S. bombing campaign this month that provoked Tehran to fire on U.S. bases in response.
Trump halted the campaign over the weekend. Iran said it would suspend its own attacks for as long as the U.S. pause endures. Israel has warned Tehran that any attack would trigger a forceful Israeli response.An acrimonious phone call in June where the president called the prime minister “fucking crazy”, first leaked to the media and later publicly confirmed by Trump himself, laid bare the strains that have at times emerged between the two leaders.
In an apparent gesture to Trump on Sunday, Israel said it would allow a multinational security force to enter Gaza as proposed under Trump’s peace plan for the enclave.
Netanyahu Gets his White House Meeting
Politico reports Netanyahu Gets his White House Meeting
Netanyahu has not been to the White House since the war began and has been angling for an invitation since at least April, two people familiar with the matter said, granted anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy. The funeral of close Netanyahu confidant Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) provided an opening, though negotiations over the visit were only just finalized.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected at the White House this week at a moment of significant tension between the longtime allies — after months of waiting for an invitation to come.
Netanyahu has not been to the White House since the war began and has been angling for an invitation since at least April, two people familiar with the matter said, granted anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy. The funeral of close Netanyahu confidant Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) provided an opening, though negotiations over the visit were only just finalized.
“At first there was no meeting. They arranged it in the last couple of days,” one of the people familiar with the matter said Friday, adding that Netanyahu is eager to consult with President Donald Trump about the escalation with Iran as well as the U.S. nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia.
Israel was the first to publicly confirm the Tuesday meeting; Trump acknowledged the visit in a rambling speech at the White House correspondents dinner late Friday. The White House did not respond to requests for comment about why the invitation took so long or what the pair will discuss
The tension between the two leaders is particularly notable because the Trump administration is currently waging the aggressive military campaign against Iran that Netanyahu has been pushing for. For much of the past two weeks, the U.S. had been launching daily strikes against Iran, though the administration said it paused those strikes over the weekend.
Netanyahu, who helped convince Trump to launch the initial attacks against Iran in February, could bear the blame if this latest campaign doesn’t bring Iran back to the negotiating table or restore passage for ships through the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump and Netanyahu last met face to face in February, in the lead-up to the war, which Trump at the time predicted would last four to five weeks. That was nearly five months ago.
Credit and Blame
Trump was pressured into a stupid war by Netanyahu along with Senators Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz.
Had it turned out OK, Trump would have taken all the credit. Blame is another matter.
That won’t stop Netanyahu from pushing for more war.
However, Trump is not happy about weapons depletion, gasoline prices, or bond yields since he started this mess.
Trump can blame others, but polls show where the blame truly belongs.
All that remains to be seen is how much slack there is in the strings between Netanyahu the puppeteer and Trump the pathetic puppet.
Musical Tribute
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July 25, 2026: Rubio’s New Biblical Theory Justifies a “Head for an Eye” Iran War Escalation
Recall that Trump’s only limit on his actions is his own morality
July 26, 2026: Trump Proclaims He Is Guardian of the World, Backs Off Escalation
Advisers worry the US is running out of missiles.
I am sure glad we are constrained by Trump’s morality, or who knows where we might be.
And we now have a guardian angel. What can possibly go wrong?
Addendum
That’s some narcissist to allow a film crew to document all of this. It has to be an utmost security breach. And to assume the role of Sec of State while holding office as a Senator crosses serious Constitutional divisions.
Even with the current “pause” in US/Iran war, there are still other important actions going on.
The Saudi Abqaiq oil processing facility was severely damaged in a recent attack.
This plant processes 7 mbpd of Saudi crude. All 7 trains were damaged. Based on initial reports and imaging, it could be several days to put out the fires and 2-6 weeks or longer for repairs.
This is another vital choke point that can prevent Saudi from exporting oil for weeks.
On the positive side the Kazakhstan CPC pipeline is back up and running, and now carrying 1 mbpd with hopes to get it back to 2 mbpd.
Mish,
With your AI generated image at the top, you should have had Nutty-yahoo’s hand up the puppet’s ass. Lindsey would have preferred that.
Would have been even cooler if that image had the strings that extend above Nutty-Yahoos had go straight up to Satan’s hands with him smiling over top of all 3.
I believe the documentary is to be called “Lindley’s Game”. And that’s all it seems to be, a game for those in power. They get rich and then they play politics like chess. Only they’re the only ones who think they play like grand masters.
The War That Shall Not Be NamedThe Trump administration’s bumbling effort to pretend it’s not fighting a war has pushed it into covering up the deaths of American soldiers.
The War That Shall Not Be Named – The Atlantic
Just watched a documentary about the decent into war in Vietnam. Feels very like 1963 right now.
Key take away…it is not individuals like Graham. It is just part of American DNA.
There are great parts to this DNA but the concept of winning being more important than a good end result for all is pretty disgusting. Drop the flag shagging America for all our sakes.
Another Bibi visit, another 100 standing ovations from our geriatric leaders.
It would be tiring, were it not for the strings holding them up.
get rid of the strings and bring out the ropes
Lindsey Graham is very lucky as he died early not seeing US not winning war against Iran but opposite effect on Trump presidency, Republican support and US credibility in the world.
BiBi is totally opposite. He is extremely unlucky. He pushed the war against Iran and not winning. And his war imposed extreme danger to his country, Israel. And He is likely to lose his presidency and go to jail for his bribery case.
Sorry, BB. You deserve it.
–
‘There’s no way I can die yet….’ Graham came to see this act of fealty to one guy, and manipulation of another, as a life mission, as his sacred calling. In between swigs and peanuts.
Well now that you’ve fully espoused your hate for the dead man, which accomplishes nothing at all, what next?
Imagine he was an Arab. Then you’d understand more. Graham was not a good person.
For me it is a portrait of the deterioration of a man’s loss of proper prior agency for the USA, to agency for something else, along with the decline of his sclerotic mind. I think the cash that I’m told flowed into him along the way would help delineate this path. (He’s not the first, in that. And I’m not saying the USA is sinless.)
The basic story I told would be the loss of one’s identity and integrity before his physical demise, so you can call that nothing if you like. Which might make sense from you, since there is only one master and one mission to properly serve, for you, right? The survival and success of a certain state and people? All else is negligible, right? OK, that state and people deserve to survive and have reasonable success, I grant. Who gets the dinner check, and how, I am very personally concerned about. And along the way to that, loss of one’s soul (or second best, loss of one’s solemn fiduciary duties) for some lesser gain, if that applies here to this dead fellow to some degree, does mean something to me.
He was a terrible person who spent most nights at rest stops entertaining strange men
The arrogance. Trump is the ultimate trustee of the power of, by, and for the American people. He is the ultimate fiduciary, to always do what he American people would do, in their own self-interest, and as perceived by the people, not him. So what do these elite bozos do? Toss vast numbers of human lives and fates onto the bonfire, without consultation. Graham strikes me as the most smug liquored-up hallucinator around. Another sleazy golf buddy.
Graham is one of the worst human beings of all time, there is a ton of competition but he is right up there and his sister must be so proud
He was a Scumbag’s scumbag
Graham? ? ? He is nothing. Nothing compared to BiBi. He is just supporter.
BiBi is the worst of the worst Psychopath of all time.
Grab Palestinian homes.
Displaced Palestinians as refugees.
Repeated genocidal attempts.
Raping Palestinians.
Killing journalists to erase his crimes.
Over 70 years.
Organise crime syndicate with Western countries thru’ Epstein Class People.
And still committing crimes till tomorrow.
Isn’t treason still the only federal crime punishable by death?
The list is a little longer than just treason
https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/stories/federal-laws-providing-death-penalty
In the Constitution
Talk about perfect luck and timing: capturing all these events on film starting in 2023:
The Hamas attacks occur that October.Trump is re-elected, changes course on Ukraine.The Houthi’s close the Red Sea & TACO’s cease fire.U.S.-Israel bombs Iranian nuclear facilities in 2025.U.S.-Israel launch an illegal unprovoked war against Iran in February of this year.Iran war turns ugly, Graham pleads for more bombs on Iran. More bombs! More bombs!Graham dies.Trump-Netanyahu eulogize their fallen friend at funeral for Graham.Let the cameras keep rolling to capture TACO’s eventual capitulation.Final shot: Graham’s grave with Graham rolling in it😁. 😁It’s like a Hollywood screenplay. Graham and the film crew had a front-row seat.
When is the documentary to be released?
I can’t wait to see it!
“The Hamas attacks”
BWAHAHHA….you mean the ones where the most protected border in human history get breached by lawnmower hang gliders and guys on mopeds….???
Kind of like Arabs taking down multiple commercial airliners and largest buildings in the world with a couple flying lessons and box cutters
I wonder if anyone will ever find out if he went to Heaven or Hell (no I don’t)
Does anyone believe that Netanyahu’s visit will result in Trump striking a deal with Iran? There is zero chance of that happening.
Plan on oil prices going higher after the meeting.
Hopefully, the plan is to resume the attack on the Iranian Regime and tighten the economic squeeze.
Any KC-135s that are taken out cannot be replaced, if Iran takes out enough of them, the US loses its ability to fight anything but defensive wars. The Law of Unintended Consequences rears its ugly head.
Time for Hegseth to rename it to dept of defense again – the sooner the better
I actually prefer it to be called the War Department like in the old days, more honest. I want the administration to have to justify a $1.5T budget for war, rather than let them get away with calling it defense.
You’re absolutely right – if we resume the attack, they’ll tighten the economic squeeze.
It’s never pretty when you see how the sausage is made.
You mean how treason is made.
Or in Lady Lindsey’s case, how the sausage is being hidden
Taco just another me, too, who has only made it much worse.
Graham actually out-jewing Netenyahoo…amazing
That fact that he’s dead is sooo amazing…the timing is incredible…one might even say “divine”
His ringtone was Hava Nagila.
That’s not news, Graham and McCain would have started war with their grandchildren over lollipop allocations. Note further the Democrats are right there typically approving it. Notice they haven’t stopped much themselves. In fact I usually quote Hillary Clinton – D, NY – for saying we need to arm the moderate rebels after they have left someplace they bombed into chaos.
Of course it’s news. We have actual quotes and footage.
Reality isn’t important to 1/3 of our voting population
Which 1/3 are you referring to? I hope it is all three!
[Shrug]. Which proves what? Graham had long been a supporter of our principle Mideastern ally Israel and has also long been a foe of the Iranian Regime, which he believed needed to be removed from power.
What do these quotes change going forward? Let me answer: Nothing!
To be fair, the quotes and footage merely confirm what we already knew.
What methods do you suggest the Dems use to stop the GOP from warring with Iran?
Or the Dems from warring against whatever entity they are at odds with?
War is natural for us humans. We have been fighting each other since the first 2 cavemen ran into each other and both wanted to claim the same cave.
War makes us stronger, stops us from becoming wusses, like so many of those pansy leftists you see on TV.
A President Hillary’s foreign policy would have been a nightmare — a costly march into a desert of mirages, IMO.
He was, arguably, the US politician most consequential in talking Trump/getting the USA into the Iran conflict, and Trump may have resented that, recently. But I don’t think it can change much on the Iran front, considering that is largely driven by the incompetence of Vance, Kushner and Witkoff; it’s a quagmire with or without Graham and I am not convinced Trump is particularly engaged. It does mean one less interlocutor for Netanyahu.