Newly released video shows Senator Lindsey Graham telling a film crew he "almost cried" with joy over the US-Israeli attacks on Iran. He also said he personally talked President Trump into launching the war, even though people close to Trump were against it.

A British filmmaker named Alex Holder filmed Graham over three years, collecting more than 400 hours of video for a planned documentary. The footage was first released on July 26, 2026, with CNN and the Wall Street Journal publishing reports that day. Al Jazeera published a full article on July 28, after a video report on July 27. Graham died on July 11 at age 71. Both Trump and Netanyahu attended his funeral on July 28.

On February 28, the United States and Israel carried out strikes that killed Iran's top leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and started the war. In video dated March 3, five days later, Graham told Holder's team: "Look what we've done here. I almost cried." The Wall Street Journal said Graham laughed loudly right after saying this. He called pushing for the war "the best thing I've ever done" and said Trump was "jacked." He said Trump "loves blowing stuff up."

Graham said in the footage that many people in Trump's circle were against attacking Iran, and that he had successfully argued for it. He compared Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill during World War II.

The documentary also recorded a phone call on March 4 between Graham and Netanyahu. On the call, Graham offered to persuade Trump to join Israel in bombing Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. Hezbollah is an armed group in Lebanon backed by Iran. It had started firing rockets at Israel again on March 2, two days after the first strikes, to support Iran. Netanyahu said Israel was focused on Iran and could deal with Lebanon later.

Holder's team gave clips from the documentary to the Wall Street Journal. The footage follows Graham's movements and conversations before and after the February 28 strikes, giving a rare close-up look at a senator's private behavior during the start of a major war.

The last interview with Graham in the documentary took place at a bagel shop in Columbia, South Carolina, in June. By then, a preliminary ceasefire, or temporary halt to fighting, with Iran was being discussed. Graham said he was worried Trump was backing away from the war's goals. "He's letting this thing slip away," Graham said. "I got to go talk to him."

The footage has spread widely since its release. Al Jazeera shared it on Facebook with a clip captioned "Look what we've done here. I almost cried." The YouTube channel Breaking Points, hosted by Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti, posted a segment called "RAW FOOTAGE: Lindsey Graham TEARS OF JOY After Iran Strikes."

The broader context here is what the footage tells us about how the decision to go to war with Iran was made. Graham's own account, recorded in private, says he was a main voice pushing for military action, working against advisers he says were resistant. Whether that picture tells the whole story is something the footage alone cannot answer. Graham was one senator, not part of the president's team, and his claim that he personally steered Trump toward war is an unverified statement from someone eager to take credit. What the footage does show clearly is that the war's top supporter in Congress saw the killing of Iran's leader as something to celebrate openly and often, and that he wanted to keep escalating even as the administration moved toward a ceasefire. The gap between Graham's excitement in private and the eventual shift toward winding down the war is visible within the documentary itself, packed into the weeks between his March comments and his June frustration.