Trump delivers eulogy at Lindsey Graham's funeral, says late senator was 'force of nature'

President Trump speaking at Lindsey Graham's funeral.

President Donald Trump eulogized Lindsey Graham on Tuesday at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., during the memorial service for the late senator, which was attended by Vice President JD Vance as well as other political leaders from the U.S. and around the world. 

Trump told those on hand that Graham was "a force to be reckoned with all over the world,” in a nod to the many mourners who had come from around the world to pay their respects to the late senator from South Carolina. Graham died unexpectedly earlier this month at the age of 71, the medical examiner said in a preliminary report. The president went on to praise Graham's famous defense of Brett Kavanaugh during his 2018 Senate confirmation hearing. 

“His impassioned defense of a wonderful person, a great gentleman, Justice Kavanaugh, ended a disgraceful attack on this very good man and gave us one of the greatest moments the Senate has ever seen,” Trump said. Kavanaugh was among the mourners in the cathedral. “It was a truly monumental moment in Senate history. I believe it was Lindsey’s perhaps finest hour.”

Trump also struck a lighter note as he recounted the tumultuous beginning to their relationship back in the 2016 election cycle when he and Graham were both running for the Republican nomination and Graham called him something "nasty," as Trump put it.  

"So naturally, I did something that I shouldn't have done. I shared his personal cellphone number with the millions of people that happened to be watching that particular day as I made a speech,” Trump recalled. “And I remember the number: 202-228-0292, if anybody wants to give it a shot. His phone exploded," Trump continued, drawing laughter from the crowd. "But it was Lindsey who had the last laugh, because while I blew up his phone for one day, we became great friends, and Lindsey did not stop calling me for the next 10 years. It was not easy."

Trump went on to remember golfing with Graham, and told mourners how Graham carried in his golf bag a putter that once belonged to the senator's late father. But Trump returned to Graham's life of service, and extraordinary 33-year career in the Senate. 

"He was a man who gave America the full measure of his good and mighty heart, until that heart itself just gave out," Trump said. "“Our nation needs more men and women like that great person sitting, laying — wherever he may be,” Trump said. “I think I know where he is, and I think he’s up there. I think he’s watching us. I’m pretty sure of it.”

Watch a highlight from Trump's eulogy in which he discusses giving out Graham's phone number below.