“It’s a major league accomplishment,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said of the cease-fire between Israel and Iran announced triumphantly by President Donald Trump on social media on Monday. But Graham sounded a cautious note with a number of “ifs” sprinkled into his assessment.
“If the cease-fire is genuine and will lead to peace, it’s a major accomplishment,” Graham said, underscoring his remarks with a tacit acknowledgement that Middle East peace has been elusive since Israel’s statehood was established there in 1948, when U.S. President Harry S. Truman opted to recognize the state “despite growing conflict between Palestinian Arabs and Palestinian Jews and despite the Department of State’s endorsement of a trusteeship.”
Graham: If it is genuine and will lead to peace, it is a major accomplishment. If it is used to rearm and regroup, we have gone backwards. pic.twitter.com/N6dd5hGjGa
— Acyn (@Acyn) June 24, 2025
Graham, while fully endorsing the U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear capabilities authorized by Trump, isn’t sure that Trump’s subsequent announcement of a cease-fire will pass the test of time.
Very grateful for President Trump’s strong and decisive leadership, using military force to destroy Iran’s nuclear enrichment capability.
I also appreciate his efforts before the attack to work towards achieving peace between Israel and Iran. Peace can only be accomplished when…
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) June 24, 2025
Graham’s main concern is fueled by his conviction that Trump’s trust in Iran may be misplaced.
“If the cease-fire is used to rearm and regroup by Iran, then we’ve gone backwards,” the Senator suggested. The comments are similar to Graham’s distrust of an earlier cease-fire between Russia, another of Graham’s distrusted states, and Ukraine, which notoriously failed to hold and has not led to peace.
There is only one Commander in Chief, and thank God it’s President Trump.
The success of Operation Midnight Hammer relied heavily on the element of surprise.
To all those claiming he acted outside his authority, you are dead wrong. pic.twitter.com/y2UoO7SoDy
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) June 22, 2025
Others skeptical of Trump’s swift claims of victory hear echoes of George W. Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” moment in the President’s eagerness to declare a long intractable problem virtually solved.
Trump said early on Tuesday that he was not happy with Israel or Iran after both used the window before the cease-fire was set to begin to launch further aggressive attacks, indicating that the fragility of the truce that Graham addressed is accurate.
But in a new statement following his promise to “try to stop it,” Trump said that the cease-fire “is in effect!” and that “Israel will not attack Iran.”