Unreleased documentary footage filmed in the months before Sen. Lindsey Graham’s death shows Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu personally warning the South Carolina Republican against pushing the United States into a wider war with Hezbollah, according to footage viewed by The Wall Street Journal. The material, gathered by British filmmaker Alex Holder for a project currently titled “Lindsey’s Game,” offers an extensive look at Graham’s yearslong campaign to topple the Iranian regime and his influence over President Donald Trump’s decision to strike Iran.
The March 4 Call
On a March 4 call placed from Graham’s Senate office, Netanyahu told the senator that expanding the fight beyond Iran was premature. “We’re concentrating right now on Iran,” Netanyahu said on speakerphone, according to the footage. “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.” Graham, sitting in an office described in the footage as covered with Trump hats, scattered papers and Planters Peanuts, with a bottle of bourbon on the shelf, replied, “That’s actually good counsel.”
Celebrating The Strikes
The footage also captures Graham’s reaction just after U.S. strikes on Iran began on February 28, the opening of the conflict now referred to as Operation Epic Fury. “Look what we’ve done here. I almost cried,” Graham told the documentary crew, laughing loudly. “How long have we been pushing this?” He said he had spoken with Trump that morning and relayed the president’s reaction. “I talked to Trump this morning, he’s jacked, he said, ‘best thing I have ever done.’ He loves blowing stuff up.”
Extensive Access Since 2023
Holder had been granted extensive access to Graham since 2023, riding in the back seat of vehicles as the senator took calls from the front, and remaining present for sensitive meetings. Some individuals who spoke with Graham by phone told the Journal they were unaware the calls were being recorded. The footage includes a trip in which Graham met with Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to build support for the war effort, as well as calls with military commanders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Saudi-Israel Normalization Push
During the same March 4 call, Graham told Netanyahu that once the Iranian regime fell, it would be time for Israel to normalize relations with Saudi Arabia, adding that he had already lined up support from both parties in Congress. Netanyahu urged him to remain focused on Iran first. The Israeli government did not respond to a request for comment on the footage.
A Frank Assessment For Sullivan
The crew also filmed a March conversation between Graham and Jake Sullivan, who served as national security adviser under President Joe Biden, in which Graham discussed the difficulty of working with the Trump administration’s negotiating team. “I can’t do it with Jared, and I can’t do it with Witkoff. They’re just too conflicted. It’s gotta be Rubio,” Graham said, referring to Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, longtime Trump friend Steve Witkoff, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. A White House official told the Journal that Graham, Witkoff and Kushner were close friends, adding, “Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are excellent dealmakers whose results speak for themselves.”
A Prediction That Missed The Mark
In that same conversation, Sullivan asked Graham how much longer the Iran war would last. Graham’s answer proved far off the mark. “In three to four weeks, we’re going to have them in a spot where they start losing control of some cities…get the Arabs more openly involved tomorrow, and then have almost irreversible momentum,” he said. Months later, the war had not concluded as Graham predicted, and it dragged into the summer.
Frustration With His Own Party
The footage shows Graham growing frustrated with resistance inside his own party to the war effort. He described battling “a lot of people inside” who opposed Trump venturing into conflict with Iran, and expressed dismay that Republicans were not doing more to publicly support the campaign. “Very few people are out selling this war from the administration. I’m shocked,” he told the crew.
Trump’s Wavering Resolve
By June, the footage captures Graham’s frustration shifting toward Trump himself, particularly after the president signed a preliminary deal with Iran that month. In the documentary’s final interview, filmed at a bagel shop in Columbia, South Carolina, weeks before his death, Graham said even Trump was growing too cautious. “He’s letting this thing slip away,” Graham said. “I got to go talk to him.”
A Decades-Long Political Transformation
The footage documents Graham’s shift from a fierce critic of Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, when he called Trump a threat to the country, to one of Trump’s most trusted allies. Graham broke with Trump after Jan. 6, 2021, when supporters stormed the Capitol following Trump’s false claims of election fraud, but Holder said Graham later grew dismissive of the severity of those attacks and remained unapologetic about his alliance with the president. Graham had previously called Trump “the greatest president of all time.”
Relishing The Spotlight
Graham told Holder he was often amazed by how much access he had to Trump, telling the filmmaker the president was easier to reach than Holder himself. He described Trump as “fun to be around” while acknowledging the president’s limits, telling Holder that Trump did not care about the issue of abortion. Graham also relished the attention brought by the war, asking his press secretary at one point whether he had ever been so in demand: “We could do a media show every two seconds.”
Treated Like Royalty In Israel
Holder also traveled with Graham to meetings with Israeli officials and Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, as they prepared for the conflict with Iran. Holder said Graham was treated there in a manner comparable to how a prime minister or king would be received.
The Final Weeks
In the weeks before Graham’s death, Holder said he noticed the senator frequently appeared exhausted and asked whether he was doing all right. Graham responded that he did not have time to sleep because he still needed to topple the Iranian regime, broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, and establish ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel by the end of the year. At one point, appearing what Holder described as “absolutely disheveled and exhausted,” Graham complained that others were not doing enough to help him. “He’d say, ‘There’s no way I can die yet,'” Holder recalled.
Graham’s Death
Graham died on the night of July 11 at age 71, with his office citing a “brief and sudden illness.” A preliminary finding from the District of Columbia medical examiner listed the cause of death as aortic dissection related to underlying heart disease. Trump said he had spoken with Graham hours before his death and that, “other than being tired, he was fine.” In a Truth Social post, Trump called Graham “one of the greatest people and Senators I have ever known” and a “true American Patriot,” and ordered flags lowered to half-staff in his honor.
Documentary’s Path To Release
Holder, who previously directed a documentary on the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, said he is now working through hundreds of hours of raw footage for “Lindsey’s Game,” which he hopes to release in the coming months. Graham had agreed to the project in hopes that it would document his long Senate career and inspire others to enter public service, and told Holder that if the film turned out poorly, he would simply dismiss the crew as “a bunch of Communists and raise lots of money.”