2026-07-28T21:40:57.592Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/28/politics/graham-trump-israel-ukraine-analysis
这是林赛·格雷厄姆生前最后一次政治行动：将他两大崇高事业的领袖——以色列和乌克兰的领导人——再次带到唐纳德·特朗普总统面前。
和华盛顿的许多葬礼一样，这位参议员周二的葬礼与其说是为了悼念逝者，不如说是为了关注在世者——以及他们永不停歇的政治博弈。
这凸显了这位南卡罗来纳州已故参议员作为重要斡旋者的角色。但在葬礼场外展开的这场高风险外交，也反映了一个基本事实：特朗普是权力的核心。
格雷厄姆凭借依附手握更大权力者来施展影响力。他善变的政治立场意味着，他既能同时倡导新保守主义干预主义，又能充当“美国优先”理念的忠实拥护者。特朗普在华盛顿国家大教堂的悼词中暗示了这种矛盾性：“他从未见过一场他不喜欢的战争。”
但格雷厄姆始终活跃在政治舞台上，且愿意与任何人对话——这一点和他已故的导师约翰·麦凯恩参议员一样——使他能够在他人无法搭建桥梁的地方建立沟通渠道。
他无法抑制的政治热情，以及在许多人不愿为特朗普辩护时挺身而出的态度，为他赢得了进入总统核心圈子的入场券。这也意味着他能够就双方存在深刻分歧的议题向总统施压，比如对乌克兰的支持。
格雷厄姆将自己定位为共和党参议员与特朗普之间、共和党与民主党之间的沟通桥梁。由于他能直接与总统对话，世界各地的外交大门都向他敞开。
“30多年来，华盛顿但凡发生重要事件，林赛·格雷厄姆都了如指掌，”特朗普说道，“世界上任何地方发生重大事件，林赛·格雷厄姆都会有自己的看法。”
周二，当格雷厄姆的灵柩安放在华盛顿国家大教堂的中殿时，他在参议院两党中的友人推动了一项重要法案，赋予特朗普对俄罗斯实施更多制裁的权力，为他的政治遗产增色不少。
格雷厄姆的葬礼是华盛顿这位政治掮客的最后一场“社交舞会”。用T.S.艾略特的话来说，他并非注定要成为哈姆雷特王子，而是“一个侍从勋爵”，能够“为一场盛典增光，开启一两幕场景”。
周二这场戏的主角包括特朗普、乌克兰总统弗拉基米尔·泽连斯基和以色列总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡，这是世界与华盛顿再次交汇的一天。
内塔尼亚胡和泽连斯基都深谙如何在华盛顿动荡的政治浪潮中站稳脚跟。他们可能会带着不快离场，但迟早会再次归来。（格雷厄姆常常是维系双方关系的粘合剂：去年泽连斯基在椭圆形办公室的合影风波后，正是格雷厄姆帮助他重新赢得了特朗普的好感。）
两人周二来到华盛顿的使命背道而驰：泽连斯基迫切希望特朗普帮助结束战争，内塔尼亚胡则希望总统重新卷入一场战争。
两人还上演了一出奇特的角色反转。
泽连斯基迎来了一波正面舆论——这在一定程度上要归功于MAGA网红、特朗普亲信劳拉·卢默的态度转变。卢默访问基辅后宣称，自己此前被俄罗斯宣传“误导”，转而支持乌克兰事业。
报道称，喜欢赢家的特朗普已经注意到泽连斯基用自制武器革新了战争方式，并在对俄作战中取得的成果。特朗普有充分理由重视这一点，因为他实际上正处于与俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京相似的处境：正陷入一场与弱小对手的混乱战争，对方使用的无人机抵消了美军传统的军力优势。
如果说泽连斯基受到了礼遇，那么内塔尼亚胡则不同寻常地成了华盛顿共和党执政时期不太受欢迎的客人。特朗普在椭圆形办公室与内塔尼亚胡会面之前，在福克斯新闻上发表了一番严厉批评，这将进一步让一些MAGA支持者相信，正是以色列总理诱使他卷入了一场不明智的战争。当被问及内塔尼亚胡是否会带来伊朗核活动的新情报时，特朗普回应道：“比基（内塔尼亚胡的昵称）这么跟我说，是因为他想让我继续插手。我听到比基宣布了这件事，我就说：‘你直接告诉我不就行了？为什么要向全世界宣布？’”
格雷厄姆的两位友人并未完全如愿——至少在公开场合没有。
两人都没能获得与特朗普一同亮相电视节的政治良机。也许是白宫官员担心任何一场会面出现不和的迹象都会产生影响，也可能是格雷厄姆的葬礼仪式安排紧凑，时间有限。
但泽连斯基本会乐于看到与特朗普和解的时刻，此前他刚刚解雇了国防部长，经历了一段艰难的政治时期，这场会面也能为身处俄军炮火下的乌克兰民众提振士气。
内塔尼亚胡在其办公室发布的视频中宣称，与特朗普的对话是“他们有史以来最棒的对话之一”。但并没有能用于竞选宣传的会谈画面，而这些画面本可以帮助他在今年晚些时候的以色列大选前巩固自己与特朗普之间不可或缺的联系。
这两场会面反映了美国外交政策的一个真相，而格雷厄姆对此心知肚明却无力改变：如今美国行动的主要驱动力是特朗普反复无常的个性，而非传统意义上的国家利益。任何事情都可能随时发生。例如，就在特朗普批评内塔尼亚胡试图将他拖回战争的同时，特朗普在福克斯新闻上表示，如果伊朗不达成协议，他将在不到一小时内“摧毁”伊朗的桥梁。
泽连斯基在X平台上表示，他与特朗普讨论了乌克兰如何获得生产美国“爱国者”反导拦截弹的许可证，以及“其他一些可能有所帮助的想法”。特朗普似乎对发放这类许可证持开放态度，这在他最近的欧洲之行中引发了乐观情绪——但这可能只是海市蜃楼。
“许可证问题无法解决乌克兰当前的燃眉之急，”前中央情报局俄罗斯分析师乔治·比贝在昆西研究所的简报会上表示，“可能需要数年时间，才能生产出乌克兰应对俄罗斯威胁所需数量的拦截弹。”
白宫几乎没有动力采取更多行动。周一，特朗普抱怨拜登政府向乌克兰运送了过多武器装备，同时回避了有关伊朗战争耗尽美国弹药的报道。尽管格雷厄姆在乌克兰问题上对特朗普产生了关键影响，但还有另一个更重要的因素：普京定期与总统通电话。
没人知道特朗普接下来会怎么做。但历史表明，他最终很可能会尝试在伊朗问题上止损，并拒绝向乌克兰提供有意义的武器援助。
这使得格雷厄姆的遗产掌握在这位在悼词中称他为“美国参议院的巨人”的总统——同时也是他的朋友和高尔夫球搭档——反复无常的手中，尽管如此，特朗普可能仍不会采纳他的建议。
What Lindsey Graham’s funeral revealed about the world under Trump
2026-07-28T21:40:57.592Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/28/politics/graham-trump-israel-ukraine-analysis
It was Lindsey Graham’s last political act: bringing leaders of two of his great causes, Israel and Ukraine, back before President Donald Trump.
Like many Washington funerals, the senator’s on Tuesday was as much about the living — and their immortal game of politics — as the dead.
It underscored the late son of South Carolina’s role as a great convener. But a day of high-stakes diplomacy on the sidelines of the ceremony also reflected a fundamental truth: Trump is the center of gravity.
Graham wielded influence by appearing at the sides of those who held far greater power. His metamorphic style meant he could simultaneously advocate neoconservative interventionism while serving as an “America First” whisperer. Trump hinted at the contradiction in his eulogy from the pulpit at Washington National Cathedral: “He never saw a war he didn’t like.”
But Graham’s insistence on always being in the arena and willingness to talk to anyone meant — like his late mentor Sen. John McCain — he could create bridges where others couldn’t.
His irrepressible character and willingness to defend Trump when many wouldn’t bought Graham’s entry into the president’s inner circle. They also meant he could press the president on issues where they deeply disagreed, such as on support for Ukraine.
Graham positioned himself as a conduit between Republican senators and Trump, and between Republicans and Democrats. Since he had the president’s ear, every foreign door was open to him.
“For more than 30 years, nothing of consequence happened in this capital without Lindsey Graham knowing about it,” Trump said. “Nothing of significance happened anywhere in the world without Lindsey Graham having a view on it.”
As Graham’s casket lay in the nave of Washington’s National Cathedral on Tuesday, his bipartisan friends in the Senate gave his legacy an important boost by announcing a bill giving Trump power to impose more sanctions on Russia.
Graham’s service was the last Washington dance of a political fixer who, to paraphrase T.S. Eliot, was not meant to be Prince Hamlet but “an attendant lord” who could “swell a progress, start a scene or two.”
Making that scene on Tuesday were Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on one of those days when the world and Washington converge.
Netanyahu and Zelensky share an ability to surf the tempestuous seas of the capital’s politics. They can be sent home with a flea in their ear. But sooner or later, they will be back. (Graham was often the glue — he was important in rehabilitating the Ukrainian leader with Trump following his disastrous Oval Office photo-op last year.)
The pair came to Washington Tuesday on contradictory missions: Zelensky is desperate for Trump’s help in ending a war. Netanyahu wants the president to restart one.
And the two men also played out an odd case of role reversal.
Zelensky rode a tide of positive press — partly precipitated by an extraordinary conversion to Ukraine’s cause by MAGA influencer and Trump confidant Laura Loomer, who declared after visiting Kyiv that she’d been “bamboozled” by Russian propaganda.
Reports suggested that Trump — who loves a winner — has noticed Zelensky’s success in taking the fight to Russia with homemade weapons that revolutionized warfare. Trump had good reason to listen, since he’s effectively in the same position as his friend Russian President Vladimir Putin: locked in a messy war with a smaller foe armed with drones that have neutralized the conventional advantages of a far greater military power.
If Zelensky was feted, Netanyahu was, unusually for a period of GOP power in Washington, something of an unwelcome guest. The president limbered up for their encounter in the Oval Office by delivering a harsh rebuke on Fox News that will further convince some MAGA personalities that the Israeli prime minister coaxed him into an unwise war. Trump was asked about reports that Netanyahu would bring new intelligence about Iranian nuclear activity. “Bibi’s telling me that because he wants me to stay involved,” Trump replied. “I heard Bibi announce that. I said, ‘Why don’t you just tell it to me? Why do you have to announce it to the world?’”
Graham’s two friends didn’t really get all of what they wanted — at least publicly.
Neither merited the political gold dust of a televised appearance alongside Trump. Perhaps White House officials worried about the impact of any signs of discord in either meeting. Maybe time was a factor ahead of Graham’s service.
But Zelensky would have relished a conciliatory moment after a rough political stretch that saw him fire his defense minister and that would also have offered a morale boost to Ukrainian civilians under Russian fire.
Netanyahu declared in a video released by his office that his conversation with Trump was “one of the best” they’ve ever had. But there was no campaign-ad-ready footage of talks that would have bolstered his case to be the indispensable link with Trump ahead of an Israeli general election later this year.
The twin meetings reflected a truth about American foreign policy that Graham understood but couldn’t overcome: The main driver of US action is now Trump’s volatile personality — not a conventional view of national interests. Anything can happen at any moment. For instance, even as Trump criticized Netanyahu for trying to drag him back into the war, Trump told Fox he would “take out” Iran’s bridges in less than an hour if it didn’t do a deal.
Zelensky said on X that he’d discussed with Trump how Ukraine could get licenses to manufacture US Patriot anti-missile interceptors and “some other ideas that could help.” Trump’s apparent openness to permit such licensing caused an optimistic stir during a recent trip to Europe — but it may have been a mirage.
“The problem with licensing is that it’s not going to address the time urgency of this problem for Ukraine,” former CIA Russia analyst George Beebe said in a Quincy Institute Briefing. “That will take probably years before it really churns out interceptor missiles in the numbers that the Ukrainians need to cope with the Russian threat.”
There’s little urgency in the White House to do more. Trump on Monday complained that the Biden administration sent too much hardware to Ukraine as he dodged reports the Iran war had depleted US munitions. And while Graham was a key influence on Trump when it came to Ukraine, there’s been a greater one: Putin, in his regular phone calls with the president.
No one knows what Trump will do next. But history suggests he’s most likely eventually to try to cut his losses in Iran and to decline to meaningfully arm Ukraine.
That leaves Graham’s legacy in the fickle grasp of the president, friend and golfing partner who eulogized him as “a giant of the United States Senate” but still may not take his advice.
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