Trump Drifts Off at Lindsey Graham Funeral After Delivering 1 Eulogy

Q: Beyond the viral clips of fatigue, what crucial international diplomacy quietly unfolded at the late senator's funeral?

The funeral also became a quiet venue for high-level diplomacy: Donald Trump held separate talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, both of whom traveled to Washington for Lindsey Graham’s service. Those meetings mattered because they came at pivotal moments in two active conflicts Graham cared deeply about. With Netanyahu, Trump discussed the Iran file, Israel’s broader security concerns, the U.S.-Israel-Lebanon framework, and efforts to expand the Abraham Accords. Netanyahu later said the two shared the goal of ensuring Iran does not obtain nuclear weapons. With Zelenskyy, the focus was Ukraine’s war with Russia and U.S. military cooperation. Reporting indicates they discussed strengthening Ukraine’s air defenses, including Patriot-related production and licensing, along with other defense ideas and renewed diplomatic efforts. Zelenskyy described the meeting as productive and said strategic cooperation with Washington was a top priority. The funeral therefore doubled as a rare diplomatic crossroads, bringing together two foreign leaders pursuing very different aims with the same U.S. president. It also reflected Graham’s unusual role in world affairs: even in death, the senator’s memorial created an opening for discussions on the Middle East and Ukraine that could shape U.S. policy in both theaters.

3 articles · Updated · Rolling Stone · Jul 28

Video clips from Washington’s National Cathedral showed Donald Trump nodding off in his seat during Lindsey Graham’s funeral service, with his eyes closing and head drooping.
1 earlier appearance at the lectern had Trump delivering a eulogy for the South Carolina senator, where he said Graham was “up there and watching us” and joked that “virtually everyone liked Lindsey — well, not everybody.”
The service also captured Trump interacting with other attendees, including offering JD Vance a Tic Tac and later patting Graham’s coffin.
The episode turned attention from the memorial itself to Trump’s conduct at a high-profile funeral for a longtime political ally.