Image source, Reuters

The funeral service for the late Senator Lindsey Graham has now ended.

As the service was coming to an end, the choir and the mourners sang the hymn Amazing Grace.

Pall bearers carried his casket out of the sanctuary accompanied by Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man. Given all the talk about Graham’s humble upbringing, it was probably a conscious choice, our North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher, who is at the service, notes.

The casket will now be taken to his home state of South Carolina, where there will be more services and a burial.

Dignitaries including President Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky are beginning to leave the Washington National Cathedral.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

We're going to end our live coverage now.

You can read more of our coverage today here:

• Zelensky and Netanyahu meet Trump as wars in Ukraine and Iran drag on
• Trump eulogises late Senator Lindsay Graham at Washington funeral

Netanyahu and Zelensky report positive meetings with Trumppublished at 21:32 BST 28 July

21:32 BST 28 July

Sarah Smith
North America editor

The death of Lindsey Graham has robbed both Ukraine and Israel of one their strongest advocates in Washington.

So it was important for both the Ukrainian and Israeli leaders, who’d travelled to Washington to attend the senator's funeral, that they took the chance to meet with President Trump.

Mr Zelensky said he had a good meeting in which he discussed Kyiv being given a licence to produce Patriot interceptor missiles in Ukraine to boost its defences against Russia. They also talked about restarting peace talks.

Relations between Trump and Zelensky have improved significantly since their angry bust up in the White House last year.

Benjamin Netanyahu also reported a positive meeting – saying it was one of the best conversations he’d ever had with Trump as they discussed their common goal of ensuring Iran does not get nuclear weapons.

Mr Trump had appeared to be frustrated in his recent dealings with the Israeli leader despite their normally close relationship.

Both the Ukrainian and Israeli leaders are facing critical moments in the conflicts they are engaged in. Both appear satisfied that – for now – they continue to have US support for their causes.

Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent

While this memorial service is commemorating the life of Senator Lindsey Graham, it provides more evidence that the political world still revolves around Donald Trump.

When the president finished his eulogy of Graham, many of the attendees – a collection of White House staffers, cabinet secretaries, legislators, foreign dignitaries, friends and family – applauded.

Trump was followed by Fox News host Sean Hannity, who spoke of Graham’s love of Trump and appreciation for how the president gave him a trusted position in his inner circle.

“My President, Lindsey probably has a heavenly version of Mar-a-Lago,” Hannity said, referring to the president’s Florida estate. “It may even be a little bigger. I wouldn't be surprised if he added one big beautiful ballroom and an arch somewhere on the property. Because he would want to obviously duplicate his dearest friend in life. You."

Gary O'Donoghue
Chief North America correspondent, reporting from Washington DC

President Trump rarely resists going off script, but today he stuck to the spirit of the occasion, at least pretty much.

In a speech laden with superlatives and the warmest of tributes, Donald Trump spoke of the former senator from South Carolina as a "legend", an "American original" and (in the bit that was unscripted) "a tough cookie".

The warmth was clearly genuine, and the mens' past differences were frankly acknowledged.

Trump, in rare self-deprecating mode, told the story of how he had read out Lindsey Graham's phone number on television during the 2016 election.

"Something I shouldn't have done," he said.

The bit he didn't recount was how the South Carolina senator had responded - publishing a political ad where he put that phone into a blender!

This speech was apposite and full of grace. A send-off fitting for a genuine American statesman.

Image source, Getty Images

Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent

While Washington National Cathedral is best known as the site of memorial services for former presidents, Lindsey Graham is not the only recent sitting senator to be given such an honour.

In 2018, John McCain of Arizona – a close friend of Graham’s – had his memorial service in the cathedral.

Donald Trump was president then, as well, but he had feuded with McCain and was notably absent from the proceedings, reportedly at the request of the senator’s family. Instead, former Presidents Barack Obama and George W Bush, along with former Senator Joe Lieberman and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, were among those who spoke.

More recently, services were held at the cathedral for several former senators, including Bob Dole of Kansas and John Warner of Virginia. Former President Joe Biden spoke on both occasions.

Image source, Getty Images

During his tribute, Hannity references both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who are attending the service.

To Netanyahu, Hannity says Graham "would've been blown away that you took this long journey... to be here today".

"He loved you, he loved the state of Israel," he says.

On Ukraine, Hannity mentions that Graham traveled to Kyiv just days before his death.

"In our private conversations he often marveled at your strength against one of the world's most brutal regimes," Hannity says to Zelensky.

Image source, Getty Images

Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent

President Donald Trump stuck largely to his script in remarks that lasted roughly 15 minutes.

His eulogy for Lindsey Graham was a tight summation of the Republican senator's life and political career, leavened with anecdotes and quips, many of which elicited chuckles from the attendees.

He touched on their shared love of golf, Graham’s dedication to foreign policy, and his “magnetic personality” and “vim and vigour”.

Trump and Graham had their differences, particularly at the start of Trump's rise to national politics. But the two men had grown close in recent years, as the president’s remarks clearly showed.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Fox News host Sean Hannity is paying tribute to his longtime friend Lindsey Graham, calling him a "force of nature" and a "true original".

"There was nobody like Lindsey Graham - nobody," he says.

Hannity says he and Graham did not always agree on everything, but they were able to disagree and remain friends for decades.

He says Graham was a frequent Fox guest who was "great for ratings" because he captured people's attention.

"Lindsey, I want everybody to know, was so proud to be a senator," he says.

Image source, Getty Images

Near the end of his speech, Trump mentions criticism that Graham levelled at him when he was first seeking the White House in 2015.

Trump says Graham "said something rather nasty" about him, causing Trump to share his cell phone publicly with millions of people, which in turn led Graham's phone to "explode" with angry calls.

"That was the beginning of a friendship in a way. But it was Lindsey who had the last laugh," says Trump, adding Graham used to call him frequently in the 10 years since that feud.

Trump also repeats that phone number again, joking that people can still try to call it, "if anyone wants to give it a shot".

Trump refers to Graham's support for US allies fighting in conflicts, including Ukraine and Israel.

"He was extremely hawkish. I will tell you he never saw a war that he didn't like," says Trump. "Only his true friends would understand that, but he wanted it for the good of our country."

He notes that leaders have come "from all over the globe" to attend Graham's funeral, including the leaders of Israel and Ukraine who met Trump earlier today at the White House.

Trump is now delivering a eulogy, calling Graham a tough senator and "one of the first people that would make you laugh, and one of the last people you really ever wanted to fight".

He talks about Graham's childhood living in the backroom of a bar, saying they were his "first lessons in diplomacy".

"He went out at the peak of his career," says Trump, saying he was "at the top of his game" when he died.

He also notes how Graham adopted his younger sister after their parents died, and that she recently took over his seat in Congress.

"He is looking down today beaming with pride with his darling sister Senator," says Trump.

President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and others are attending the funeral at the Washington National Cathedral today.

You can watch the service above.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Many of Trump’s cabinet secretaries are beginning to take their seats here in the Cathedral, as a brass ensemble plays a piece by Czech composer Antonin Dvorak.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio just arrived, along with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, as well as Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, have been here a while.

They all have prominent seats in the nave, just ahead of many of Graham’s Senate colleagues.

The National Cathedral hosts many of America’s most prominent funeral services and memorial events. Former President George W Bush spoke here after the 9/11 attacks.

This is a somewhat more intimate affair than the services that follow the death of a president, where the massive building is packed to capacity – most recently for Jimmy Carter’s memorial early last year. But the range of attendees – foreign leaders, legislators and Donald Trump and his top advisers- reflects Lindsey Graham’s influence in the nation’s capital.

Image source, Reuters

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are now both in attendance at Senator Lindsey Graham's funeral which begins shortly.

Image source, Getty Images

Grace Eliza Goodwin
US reporter

All US senators have also been invited to a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky this evening, around the same time they are set to vote on a bill to ratched up santions on Russia.

The meeting will be hosted by members of both parties who lead on foreign policy and the military - the Republican chairman of the Armed Services Committee, Roger Wicker, and Democratic Senators Richard Blumenthal and Jeanne Shaheen.

The late Senator Lindsey Graham introduced the legislation in April, and Zelensky is also attending Graham's funeral today.

The bill, which has bipartisan support and over 60 cosponsors, would impose harsher sanctions on Russia and extend some sanctions on Iran.

Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent

Image source, Anthony Zurcher / BBC

I’m currently in the press section on a balcony in the Washington National Cathedral, off to the left side of the altar.

Although we are still an hour away from the start of Lindsey Graham's memorial service, one VIP has already arrived.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, fresh off his morning meeting with Donald Trump at the White House, is currently engaged in conversation with a group near where members of Congress typically sit for services like this one.

Zelensky will have more time to chat with lawmakers, as he’s scheduled to visit Capitol Hill later today.

The Israeli Prime Minister is seen departing the White House moments ago, following his meeting with Trump.

We hope to hear from either leader soon about how the meeting went.

Image source, EPA

Image source, EPA

As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits Washington, his country is carrying out strikes in Gaza.

Over the weekend, an Israeli air strike killed two Hamas security officials in Gaza, medics and officials said.

The strike killed Colonel Wael Musa al-Ladawi, a senior officer, and Major Ramez Tawfiq Abu Zureiq on Sunday in the city of Deir al-Balah, according to Reuters.

Last week, at least 12 Palestinians, including six members of one family, were killed in three separate Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip, according to local medics.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
White House reporter

Netanyahu's visit to Washington comes at a time in which disparate wings of the Republican party are visibly split over the US relationship with Israel.

On one hand are Republicans - such as the late Senator Lindsey Graham - who remain ironclad supporters of Israel and advocates of US military assistance to the country, continuing a longstanding US commitment to Israel's security.

On the other are those within Trump's Maga base who have grown notably exasperated with the longtime ally, mostly over Iran. They see Israel as helping propel the US into a largely unpopular war. The head of the National Counterterrorism Center, Joe Kent - something of a darling in the Maga movement - resigned from his post over his belief that Israel and its lobby in the United States helped push Trump to launch military strikes.

There's also another divide the party must contend with - this one along a generational fault line. Polling data released by Pew earlier this year found older Republicans were still broadly in favour of Israel, while 57% of Republicans between the ages of 18 and 49 had an unfavourable view of the country.

Trump has now ended his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after earlier meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

"President Trump has concluded his meetings in the Oval Office with President Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Netanyahu," she just posted on X.

"Both meetings were positive and productive!"