President Trump on Sunday joined CNN’s State of the Union hours after news broke that Lindsey Graham died suddenly.

The President told Jake Tapper that he spoke with Graham “moments before” his death.

As The Gateway Pundit reported, Graham passed away from a heart attack on Saturday evening, just days after his 71st birthday.

Graham had just returned to the US from Ukraine, where he toured a drone production facility with Ukrainian officials. According to Axios, Graham had briefed Trump on Saturday about his visit and an ongoing Congressional push to impose sanctions on Russia. “I can’t die now. I still need to do the Russia sanctions, get Iran sorted out, and do Israeli-Saudi normalization,” Graham joked with an unnamed individual he spoke to on Saturday.

“I thought he was fine. He called me last night. He just got back from Ukraine, and he had a great trip. He was telling me about the trip,” the President told Jake Tapper on Sunday. “He was full of vim and vigor. He was tired. He said, ‘I’m tired’ because it’s a long trip. But, other than that, he was fine. And he called me, I guess just moments before, because he called me like at 6:30 or something, and the medical people got there a little bit later, right after that.”

The President described Graham as “a great politician,” a “natural,” and a “tough cookie,” adding that he was “pushing very, very hard” for the SAVE America Act.

On their past squabbles during the 2016 Presidential election, Trump remembered, “It was a nasty campaign. He was tough and nasty, but I was nasty too. And it worked out fine.”

“I got to know him by little drips and drabs, and then we became friendly,” Trump continued. “And there was no better advocate. He was a fantastic advocate in the Senate.”

Trump further agreed with Tapper that Graham was a warmonger with “a strong belief in interventionism.” When asked how much influence the late Senator had on his foreign policy, Trump noted that the two “disagreed a little bit,” especially on Ukraine. “I wanted to see the war with Ukraine end very quickly. I think he was more into keeping it going, frankly. He was — he was very, very militant having to do with that,” Trump recalled. “From the standpoint of 25,000 people dying every month, I didn’t like that.”

“He was probably at his place. I don’t know where he was, but I spoke to him. And then I got a call a few hours later saying — late in the evening, at 2:00 in the morning, actually,” Trump said.

“But they found out about it, I think, about 8:00, about his problem. But—so it had to be something very quick, because he was fine. When I spoke — other than being tired, he was fine.”

WATCH:

Transcript via CNN:

TRUMP: Well, it’s devastating.

I thought he was fine. He called me last night. He just got back from Ukraine. And he had a great trip. He was telling me about the trip. He was pushing very, very hard. You probably know he wanted to do the SAVE America Act. And he was talking about that.

He was full of vim and vigor. He was tired. He said “I’m tired” because it’s a long trip. But, other than that, he was he was fine. And he called me, I guess just moments before, because he called me like at 6:30 or something. And the medical people got there a little bit later, right after that.

What a terrible loss it is. He was a great politician. He was a natural. There are very few of them. He was a natural politician, got along with everybody. When he didn’t, he was very tough. He was a tough cookie too, but he got — got along with everybody.

TAPPER: Yes. He had some harsh words about you 10 years ago, when you were running against each other.

TRUMP: No, he did.

TAPPER: And…

TRUMP: Well, he ran against me, and he was, you know, formidable. He was a tough cookie. He was tough and smart. And that’s where I got to know him, on the campaign. I didn’t know him before then.

And I spoke to him maybe once in my life before then. But I got to know him. He was one of the 17 people that ran against me. And he was a smart guy. And it was a nasty campaign. He was tough and nasty. But I was nasty too. And it worked out fine.

And I got to know him by little drips and drabs, and then we became friendly. And there was no better advocate. He was a fantastic advocate in the Senate. And he could do things that other people — he was able to — if I had a really big problem with a certain Democrat, he could work it out. That’s something most Republicans can’t do.

TAPPER: As you just mentioned, he died right after returning to Washington, D.C., from a trip to Ukraine. It was his 10th trip there. He was — a strong belief in interventionism…

TRUMP: Right.

TAPPER: … a staunch defender of Israel, a staunch advocate for Zelenskyy.

How influential was he with you when it came to foreign policy?

TRUMP: Well, we disagreed a little bit, but, overall, I’m a big Israel person. He was certainly that.

I was — I wanted to see the war with Ukraine end very quickly. I think he was more into keeping it going, frankly. He was — he was very, very militant having to do with that. But I was — I was — from the standpoint of 25,000 people dying every month, I didn’t like that.

And he was very much — he was a very strong military person. So am I. But I think we used it a little bit differently. We probably had a little bit of a different attitude. But we got along on it. Essentially, we agreed. And, essentially, we agreed on almost everything.

Where he was really becoming strong was the SAVE America Act. That was — he was really — and I think he was going to be there very, very strongly on the filibuster. He was against terminating the filibuster. And I think he was doing that, because he said, we have a budget coming up and we have debt ceiling coming up.

And the Democrats will — they have — they’re deranged in many ways, and they’re not going to be able to do it. So he was — he was coming aboard, I think, for the filibuster, terminating the filibuster. But we — before we did that, he was going to — he was a strong advocate for SAVE America.

And that’s what he called me about last night. I mean, think of it. I spoke to him just — he had already landed. He was probably at his place. I don’t know where he was. But I spoke to him. And then I got a call a few hours later saying — late in the evening, at 2:00 in the morning, actually.

But they found out about it, I think, about 8:00, about his problem. But — so it had to be something very quick, because he was fine. When I spoke — other than being tired, he was fine.

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