Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., will travel to Florida this week, where he will visit former President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in an attempt to ease tensions with Republican leaders, CNN reports.
A source told the network that Graham plans to play golf with Trump, where he will try to convince him of the importance of working with Republicans to retake control of Congress. The source noted that Graham hopes to be ''constructive'' in his talks with Trump, who recently met with the second-highest ranking Republican in the House, Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise.
Trump recently hit out at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., for saying that the former president was ''practically and morally responsible'' for the Capitol riot, saying that the longtime GOP leader is a''dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack'' in a statement earlier this week.
Graham told Fox News after the exchange: "President Trump is the most consequential Republican in the party. If Mitch McConnell doesn't understand that, he's missing a lot."
However, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson refuted the senator’s statement, telling CNN on Thursday: "Certainly he [Trump] has a huge following in our party, but he cannot define us for the future. We have to give outreach to the Trump supporters. They're a huge part of our Republican base, and we have to identify with the issues they are concerned about. But it doesn't have to be defined by one person."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.