Graham's Quest for War

The Wall Street Journal discusses Lindsey Graham's Quest to Sell Trump on Striking Iran

As Lindsey Graham tried to sell Donald Trump on bombing Iran, he liked to play a little word-association game with the president.

"I say Franklin Roosevelt, what do you say?" the Republican senator from South Carolina asked. The correct answer: "You have nothing to fear but fear itself."

As he ticked through memorable presidential phrases, Graham asked Trump what his phrase would be. Trump said he didn't know, Graham recalled. "Keep protesting, help is on the way," Graham suggested, referring to Trump's social-media post in January urging Iranians to confront their government.

Some Democrats and even Republicans point the finger at Graham, who they think goaded Trump into a Middle East conflict with little plan for how the situation will play out long term.

"Lindsey hasn't seen a fist fight he hasn't wanted to turn into a bombing raid," said Rep. Tim Burchett (R., Tenn.). Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) said there should be a law passed on how often Graham goes to the White House or golfs with Trump. Graham's effort to pull MAGA toward regime change was "the quintessential political maneuvering beyond all political maneuvering," Paul said.

Sitting in his Senate office this week with canisters of Planters peanuts and hundreds of scattered papers on his desk and signed MAGA hats on his shelves, Graham was almost giddy about persuading Trump to bomb Iran. One of the newer hats reads "Make Iran Great Again." "What are they going to do to me?" he said of critics who opposed his efforts.

The senator said he was already talking with Trump about further military interventions in Lebanon and potentially Cuba, which he said would happen soon. He wasn't particularly concerned about what was next in Iran, he said.

"They say if you break it, you own it. I don't buy that. You break it when it's a threat," Graham said in the Journal interview.

In the White House, some military advisers warned Trump against the conflict, a group that Graham referred to as the "non-entanglement crowd." Graham said betting on Trump's second term was worth it for the president's military interventions alone.

To help make the case on Iran, Graham traveled several times to Israel in recent weeks, meeting with members of the country's intelligence agency. "They'll tell me things our own government won't tell me," he said. He spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, coaching him on how to lobby the president for action. Netanyahu showed the president intelligence that persuaded Trump to go ahead, Graham said.