Kash Patel called to White House on heels of continued questions over his behavior

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“FBI Director Kash Patel canceled a trip to Chicago to see his girlfriend perform at a music festival after being summoned to the White House. This comes amid criticism of Patel’s use of FBI resources, including the director’s jet, for personal trips. The White House cited unrelated meetings for Patel’s presence, while Patel’s office stated he complied with federal travel rules.

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The embattled FBI director was set to travel to Chicago in the Bureau's jet to see his girlfriend perform at a music festival when he was called in, sources tell MS NOW.

FBI Director Kash Patel during a U.S. Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Flag Raising ceremony at the State Department on March 9, 2026, in Washington, D.C.Kevin Wolf / AP Photo

FBI Director Kash Patel abruptly cancelled a planned flight Friday to see his girlfriend in Chicago this weekend, after top administration officials frustrated with Patel summoned him to the White House, according to two people with knowledge of the change. 

The precise reasons that Patel’s political bosses demanded he cancel his trip and report to the West Wing are unclear, but several people said top Trump deputies were disturbed by a range of actions by Patel. Some found it confounding that the FBI director was leaving town amid the recent revival of the war with Iran and alleged threats against the president’s life, according to a person familiar with efforts to help Patel rebuild trust with the White House. For this article, people spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive internal matter. 

Others cited two unforced errors by Patel that created bad optics for the Trump administration, the first being his early morning tweet bashing MS NOW for its coverage of his high-flying lifestyle, they said, in which Patel boasted: “my jet ski is gold plated…dumbass.”

The second misstep, the people said, was that extensive reports by MS NOW and other news outlets about taxpayers footing the bill for Patel’s globe-trotting ultimately spurred formal questions from Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, a critical ally of President Trump’s. 

On Thursday, MS NOW reported exclusively that Grassley had first asked Patel in a May letter about his use of the FBI jet and his decision to purchase luxury armored BMWs so he could travel more discreetly in the Washington, DC area.  In a separate letter, Congressional Democrats said they had received information that Patel was demanding that FBI staff arrange special perks on his official trips, including a jet ski excursion and a helicopter tour.  The FBI has disputed that, and said Patel had complied with federal rules pertaining to his travel.

White House spokesperson Steven Cheung issued a statement without responding to specific questions about Patel’s cancelled trip or him being summoned to the White House.

“Under President Trump and Director Patel’s leadership at the FBI, crime across the country has plummeted to the lowest level in more than 100 years and many high profile criminals have been put behind bars,” he said. “Director Patel remains a critical player on the Administration’s law and order team.” 

When asked to clarify why Patel was at the White House on Friday, a White House official said, “The idea that he was ‘summoned to the White House’ due to ‘frustration’ is totally inaccurate. He was here for unrelated meetings.”

An FBI spokesman declined to comment for this article.

Patel cancelled his flight to Chicago just as he was preparing to leave on Friday morning, according to three people briefed on his move. But the trip to Chicago was already stirring anger and controversy inside the FBI, multiple current and former law enforcement officials told MS NOW. He was planning to attend his girlfriend Alexis Wilkins’ performance Saturday at a country music festival held in the parking lot of a major Chicago stadium, the three people said. Patel’s staff had arranged for the director to make an office visit Friday to the Chicago field office to coincide with his trip, according to two other people with knowledge of the director’s schedule. 

Several FBI agents complained internally that this office visit was belatedly-added cover to justify Patel flying the director’s jet — which is estimated to cost tens of thousands of dollars for such domestic trips — to enjoy a weekend in Chicago with his girlfriend, the people said. 

“Patel was coming (to Chicago) today for a fake office visit for his girlfriend’s country concert this weekend,” one of the sources briefed on the trip said.  The source noted Patel “cancelled the trip while on the tarmac at Andrews” and was “summoned to the White House immediately,” adding that it was “apparent panic” and “believed to be in response to his morning tweet today.” 

Reports on Patel’s personal travel have drawn a flurry of Democratic lawmakers’ questions and even President Trump’s ire in some cases, most notably when he used the director’s jet to fly to Milan to see the U.S. men’s ice hockey team finals in the Olympics, a trip that former FBI officials estimate cost at least $1 million when accounting for both the flight costs and expenses for his security detail, pilots and hotel bills. Patel’s office said at the time that he had multiple security and diplomatic meetings in Italy that made this an official visit. Patel had tweeted the previous year, however, in July 2025, of his plans to attend the men’s hockey competition. 

Trump shared his disappointment directly with Patel, sources told MS NOW at the time, complaining about the bad look the director had created for the administration and the FBI when he was captured on video chugging beer in the hockey team’s locker room.

Patel also drew scrutiny from conservative supporters of Trump when he used the director’s jet to travel to Penn State to watch Wilkins perform the national anthem. Patel and his office at the time denied he misused FBI resources, and noted that the FBI director is required to fly on the government jet when leaving the area, including on personal trips. Former FBI officials acknowledged that is true, but said that past directors were judicious about personal trips. 

The Chicago event where Wilkins is scheduled to perform Saturday is the White City Smokeout, which is promoted as an annual summer festival in the heart of Chicago featuring several days of country music acts, barbecue and craft beer.  Wilkins is listed on the event’s website as being scheduled to perform on Saturday.

A source familiar with efforts to help Patel repair his standing in the White House told MS NOW there have been multiple interventions by people who like Patel and have been trying to help him in his position as director.

“With everything going on in the war, how are you not outside the Oval Office ready to go into the Situation Room?” the source said.

According to two people who communicate frequently with the White House, Trump and some senior deputies, including White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, have been irritated by Patel repeatedly drawing negative news coverage that reflects poorly on the administration and draws attention away from what they consider its accomplishments. 

Patel’s travel, especially his trip to the Olympics and his office’s claims to MS NOW that it was for official business, became the butt of a series of late-night host jokes and even featured actor Aziz Ansari mockingly playing Patel in a cold open for Saturday Night Live.“

 

Trump Justifies Money Made as President With Inaccurate Claims

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“President Trump’s claim that his $2.2 billion windfall since his second term is due to a booming stock market is misleading, as cryptocurrency ventures and other business dealings accounted for the majority of his revenue. Trump’s assertion that his investments are held in a blind trust is also false, as his revocable trust allows him to know about his assets and meet with financial advisers. While Trump has donated more money than his immediate predecessors, his donations represent a smaller proportion of his net worth.

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President Trump has wrongly attributed the $2 billion windfall he gained during his second term to a hot stock market and claimed that he was the only president to donate his salary.

July 11, 2026

President Trump’s most lucrative ventures seemed to intersect directly with his administration’s policies like cryptocurrency and dealings with foreign governments.Doug Mills/The New York Times

The $2.2 billion windfall President Trump reaped since his second term has raised questions over potential conflicts of interest and whether he has profited from public office, but Mr. Trump has dismissed any notion of impropriety.

Some of Mr. Trump’s most lucrative ventures seemed to intersect directly with his administration’s policies like cryptocurrency and dealings with foreign governments.

But, Mr. Trump has argued, his personal financial gains reflected a stock market benefiting everyone; his investments and business dealings were in a blind trust, not unlike other presidents; and unlike his predecessors, he donated his presidential salary.

Except none of those assertions are true.

Here’s a fact-check.

What Was Said

This is misleading. Of the $2.2 billion in revenue Mr. Trump reported in his 2025 financial disclosure forms, the bulk does not come from growth in the stock market. Additionally, none of the major indexes grew by 85 percent, nor has the average 401(k) account.

Cryptocurrency ventures accounted for more than $1.4 billion. Two of Mr. Trump’s real estate holdings in Florida alone — the Mar-a-Lago club and the Trump National Doral golf club — brought in almost $200 million. Branding deals brought at least $55 million and settlements from news media companies $87 million. Together, those examples total more than three-quarters of the $2.2 billion.

Revenue in Mr. Trump’s first year back in office rose by more than 250 percent compared with the $622 million he reported in 2024.

Since Mr. Trump took office on Jan. 20, 2025, to early July 2026, the S&P 500 has risen by roughly 24 percent, the Dow Jones by roughly 19 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index by roughly 33 percent. According to Fidelity Investments, average 401(k) balances increased by 11 percent from the last quarter of 2024 to the last quarter of 2025.

Anna Kelly, a White House spokeswoman, said Mr. Trump had “implemented policies that have made all Americans wealthier and more prosperous.”

This is misleading. Mr. Trump’s investments, assets and business interests are held in a revocable trust, according to an ethics agreement issued last year by his company, the Trump Organization. This arrangement is not the same thing as a blind trust.

“All of the president’s assets,” Ms. Kelly said, are “held in fully discretionary accounts managed by independent third-party financial institutions. There are no conflicts of interest.”

Other than Mr. Trump, every president since the 1970s who has owned individual stocks and bonds has used a blind trust. (Some, like Presidents Barack Obama and Joseph R. Biden Jr., did not own individual stocks and kept their money instead in cash, Treasury notes or mutual funds.)

Blind trusts established by federal officials must abide by certain legal requirements. Most officials elect what is known as a “qualified blind trust,” but others set up a “qualified diversified trust,” which includes even stricter guardrails. Under both types, the trustee must be an institution, completely independent and approved by the Office of Government Ethics. The official has no knowledge of acquired assets, receives quarterly reports about the total value of the assets and cannot communicate with the trustee outside of written notes preapproved by the office.

For example, Boston Harbor Trust Company served as the trustee for President Bill Clinton’s blind trust, which was approved by the Office of Government Ethics in 1993. His tax returns disclosed the gains from the blind trust, but not the individual assets themselves. President George W. Bush has said he did not speak to his blind trust’s trustee, Northern Trust Company, at all during his time in office, nor was he aware of just how much money he lost during the 2008 recession.

Mr. Trump’s trust is not a blind trust and does not abide by the rules governing one, said Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, the director of government affairs at the Project on Government Oversight, a nonpartisan watchdog. He added that legally, “there is no such thing as a semiblind trust” either.

At a 2017 news conference, a longtime lawyer for the Trump Organization agreed that Mr. Trump’s trust was not a blind trust and argued that it would be impractical for someone with his business holdings, noting that he “cannot unknow that he owns Trump Tower.”

It is true that there are some guardrails in how the president’s brokerage accounts, also held by the trust, are managed. But the structure still differs from a qualified blind trust in several ways.

For one, the Office of Government Ethics was not involved in the trust’s creation, its director said in 2017.

The New York Times reported in June that Mr. Trump’s accounts are managed by outside brokerage firms and neither Mr. Trump nor his family can place trades. One of Mr. Trump’s sons has said that the firms have “sole and exclusive authority over all investment decisions.” The Times found no indication of insider trading. But Mr. Trump is allowed to know about his assets and meets with financial advisers annually.

And appointing his family member as the trustee, as Mr. Trump has done, “would immediately create a sort of a noncompliance issue. It wouldn’t be a qualified blind trust anymore,” Mr. Hedtler-Gaudette said, calling Mr. Trump’s claim “classic rhetorical smoke and mirrors.”

What Was Said

False. At least two other presidents have donated their entire salaries, while others have donated portions.

During his four years in office, President Herbert Hoover donated his annual paycheck of $75,000 to charities and to supplement the salaries of federal workers he believed were underpaid, he said in 1937. For example, Hoover donated about $10,000 annually to the San Francisco Welfare Board, which “got in the habit of thinking that was my regular contribution” and continued to ask for the donation even after Hoover left office, he said.

During his two years in office, President John F. Kennedy also donated his salary of $100,000. A 1987 biography lists 10 charities that received donations, including the Boy Scouts of America, the Girl Scouts of America, Services for Crippled Children, hospitals in California and Massachusetts, the United Negro College Fund and the Cuban Families Committee.

Mr. Trump has donated more money than his immediate predecessors, but less as a proportion of his net worth.

Unlike his predecessors, Mr. Trump has refused to publicly release his tax returns, so the exact amount of his annual net income now is not known. But tax data released by Congress during his first term shows that Mr. Trump donated about $2.9 million from 2017 to 2020, or about 26 percent of his net gross adjusted income of $11 million or 0.1 percent of his net worth at the end of his term.

In comparison, tax returns released by Mr. Biden showed charitable donations of about $89,000 from 2020 to 2023, about 4 percent of his income and about 1.1 percent of his term-end net worth. Mr. Obama donated about $1 million from 2009 to 2017, about 9 percent of his income and about 8 percent of his term-end net worth. Mr. Bush donated about $761,000 from 2000 to 2007, about 14 percent of his income and 4 percent to 11 percent of his term-end net worth.

Linda Qiu is a Times reporter who specializes in fact-checking statements made by politicians and public figures. She has been reporting and fact-checking public figures for nearly a decade.“

 

US and Iran exchange strikes as Tehran again says strait of Hormuz is closed

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“Iran and the US exchanged strikes over Iran’s claim that a vessel used an unapproved route in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran closed the strait, citing US interference, and targeted a US air base in Qatar. The incident follows earlier exchanges of fire and diplomatic efforts to negotiate safe passage through the strait.

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Tehran says vessel using unapproved route in strait was struck, drawing retaliation from US forces

Tehran said the strait was now closed ‘until further notice’ and at least until ‘the end of US interference in the region’. Photograph: Reuters

Iran and the US exchanged fresh strikes early on Sunday over what Tehran said was unauthorised use of the strait of Hormuz by a container ship, raising further doubts about the prospects of talks to agree a way forward for the vital waterway.

The latest flare-up began when the ⁠Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had struck a vessel travelling on an unapproved route and then closed the strait, warning that any retaliation would be met with a “severe response”.

“A vessel that had jeopardised maritime security by switching off its systems was struck and ⁠brought to a halt,” the navy of Iran’s ⁠Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said in a statement, without giving further details.

A short time later, US Central Command said its forces had carried out a round of strikes against Iran, attacking at least 140 targets. “The United States is imposing a heavy cost by continuing to degrade Iran’s ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial ships freely transiting the strait,” the military said.

US forces launch a missile from one of their vessels in the region. Photograph: US Central Command/Reuters

The targets included missile and drone sites, naval capabilities, ammunition depots, communication networks and surveillance locations, it added.

Iran had attacked a Cyprus-flagged container ship, which suffered “significant engine room damage”, and a civilian crew member was missing, US Central Command said.

The ⁠United Kingdom Maritime ⁠Trade Operations ⁠agency (UKMTO) confirmed a container ship nine nautical ‌miles east of Oman sustained damage to the rear of ⁠the vessel which caused a fire onboard.

Hours later, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait said their air defences were engaging missile and drone threats, while neighbouring Bahrain sounded air raid sirens. The UAE said explosions heard across the country “are the result of ongoing engaging operations of missiles and UAVs”. Bahrain’s interior ministry urged citizens and residents to remain calm and head to the nearest safe place.

Iran’s IRGC later said it had struck ⁠and disabled a second ⁠vessel in ‌the strait ‌and targeted the US air base ‌at Al Udeid in Qatar with ballistic missiles, destroying ⁠its fighter jet maintenance centre and command and ‌control facility.

Trump restarts war with Iran and plays nice(ish) with Nato | Politics Weekly America

The strait, the IRGC said, was now closed “until further notice” and at least until “the end of US interference in this region”.

The Australian government urged Iran to uphold the ceasefire agreement, including allowing safe passage through the strait of Hormuz. A spokesperson for foreign minister Penny Wong said: “We want to see negotiations between the US and Iran continue, the ceasefire to resume and the strait of Hormuz to be kept open. We call on Iran to abide by its obligations under the agreement, including to ensure safe passage through the strait of Hormuz.”

The latest incident comes amid efforts in Oman to discuss the fate of the strait. Iran’s foreign minister ‌Abbas Araqchi met Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr Albusaidi to exchange “views on appropriate mechanisms for the safe passage of ‌ships through the strait of Hormuz”, according to a statement from Tehran.

A screen grab taken from a handout video released US Central Command of what it said were strikes on Iranian military targets. Photograph: Reuters

A senior Iranian source told Reuters that Iran, the US, Qatar and Pakistan had agreed to negotiate in a call that ‌mediators were trying to arrange for Saturday while Araqchi was in Oman. It was not immediately clear whether the efforts were successful.

The latest diplomatic moves followed exchanges of rhetoric on Saturday between Tehran and Washington. Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, vowed revenge for the killing of his father and predecessor, hours after US president Donald Trump threatened severe reprisals in the event of any attempt on his life.

“Vengeance is the will of our nation and must inevitably be carried out,” new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei said in a written message. “This matter depends neither on my personal existence nor on that of other officials. Whether we are present or not, it will come to pass,” he wrote in his first message since his father’s funeral this week. He said Iran had compiled a list of individuals to be targeted.

Both sides carried out exchanges of fire earlier this week, rocking an interim agreement aimed at ending the war, which broke out in late February with massive US-Israeli strikes that killed the then supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

A man walks past a mockup of an Iranian missile and flag in Tehran. Photograph: Majid Asgaripour/West Asia News Agency/Reuters

Trump has declared the ceasefire over while leaving the door open for talks, and mediators have been trying to salvage a diplomatic solution, with Iranian media reporting that a delegation from Qatar travelled to Iran on Friday.

Hours earlier, Trump had posted on his Truth Social platform that any attempt to assassinate him would lead the United States to “completely decimate” Iran.

“1000 missiles are locked and loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran, with thousands of more to immediately follow, should the Iranian government act on its threat, pronounced in many corners of the globe, to assassinate, or attempt to assassinate, the sitting President of the United States of America, in this case, ME!,” he wrote.

News outlets Axios and Politico reported that Washington has given Tehran until Saturday to stop firing on commercial ships transiting Hormuz and acknowledge the waterway is open.

With Agence France-Presse and Reuters“

 

Lindsey Graham, Republican Senator and Staunch Trump Ally, Dies at 71

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“Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican and close ally of Donald Trump, died at 71 from a brief illness. A staunch advocate for U.S. military intervention, Graham supported aggressive action in Ukraine and Iran and was a vocal supporter of Israel. He played a significant role in shaping the federal judiciary and advancing Trump’s legislative agenda during his time in the Senate.

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Mr. Graham died of a “brief and sudden” illness on Saturday evening, his office said. Over more than two decades in the Senate, he consistently pushed for the use of U.S. military power overseas.

July 12, 2026Updated 7:33 a.m. ET

Senator Lindsey Graham speaking in Spartanburg, S.C., on June 30.Will Crooks for The New York Times

Senator Lindsey Graham speaking in Spartanburg, S.C., on June 30.Will Crooks for The New York Times

Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican and stalwart ally of President Trump who was a forceful advocate for an interventionist U.S. foreign policy, has died, his office announced early on Sunday. He was 71.

He died of a “brief and sudden” illness on Saturday evening, his office said in a statement. Mr. Graham had been scheduled to appear on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, after a recent trip to Ukraine. Mr. Graham’s office did not immediately respond to an inquiry on the cause of death.

Mr. Graham was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994, before being elected to the Senate in 2002. He was re-elected to the Senate in 2008, 2014 and 2020. Last month, Mr. Graham won the South Carolina Republican primary in a bid to serve a fifth term in the Senate, fending off five challengers.

Mr. Trump offered condolences on social media early Sunday, calling Mr. Graham “one of the greatest people and Senators I have ever known.”

“He was always working, and was a true American Patriot,” Mr. Trump added. “Lindsey will be greatly missed!!!”

Gov. Henry McMaster of South Carolina, a Republican, can immediately appoint a temporary replacement to fill Mr. Graham’s Senate seat. According to South Carolina law, an election for a full-term successor would be held in November.

Mr. Graham’s death comes as another influential senator, Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, is currently hospitalized for undisclosed health reasons. It leaves Senate Republicans without a senior lawmaker and reliable vote as they face pressure from Mr. Trump to continue advancing his legislative agenda.

Mr. Graham, who also sought the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, consistently argued for the use of American military power overseas. He was a fierce supporter of Israel and of Ukraine, making multiple trips to both countries, and he most recently supported aggressive military action against Iran.

Mr. Graham at an event in Pickens, S.C., in July 2023.Doug Mills/The New York Times

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel shared his condolences on social media, calling Mr. Graham a “beloved friend.”

“Lindsey understood that the security of Israel and America are inseparable,” Mr. Netanyahu wrote, adding, “Israel has lost one of its greatest friends.”

Mr. Graham helped navigate Ukraine’s strained relations with the Trump administration after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 and had often visited Kyiv, the capital, despite regular Russian bombardment of the city. On his recent trip to Ukraine, Mr. Graham visited a drone factory and met with President Volodymyr Zelensky.

“Lindsey was a true defender of freedom and the values that make our world safer,” Mr. Zelensky wrote on social media on Sunday, saying he was “deeply saddened” by Mr. Graham’s death.

Mr. Graham was also one of many powerful Republicans who changed their public position on Mr. Trump. As Mr. Trump was rising in the 2016 presidential campaign, Mr. Graham lambasted him as a “demagogue” and a “race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot.”

“You know how you make America great again?” Mr. Graham said in a 2015 CNN interview: “Tell Donald Trump to go to hell.”

A decade later, he was regularly and effusively lauding Mr. Trump. In a speech celebrating his primary victory last month, Mr. Graham joked, “Mr. President, you’re not far behind God.”

Over his Senate career, Mr. Graham led two influential committees, Judiciary and Budget.

As head of the Judiciary Committee, he oversaw the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court after the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. He also played a critical role during the 2016 fight over President Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to the court, aiding in Republicans’ success in blocking the pick.

More broadly, Mr. Graham was instrumental in advancing Mr. Trump’s effort to reshape the federal judiciary.

During his tenure at the helm of the committee, the Senate confirmed more than 200 federal judges, including Ms. Barrett, cementing one of the defining conservative judicial legacies of the Trump era.

As chairman of the Budget Committee, Mr. Graham played a central role in translating Mr. Trump’s domestic agenda into legislation. He oversaw the budget resolution that allowed Republicans to advance much of the president’s sweeping tax, immigration and spending package without support from Senate Democrats.

The effort required months of negotiations among warring factions within his party before the tax package became law last year. Mr. Graham, along with Republican leaders and the Trump administration, embraced budget reconciliation as the party’s primary vehicle for enacting Mr. Trump’s agenda at a time when Republicans lacked the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster.

Those efforts became a defining accomplishment of Mr. Trump’s return to Washington with a Republican-controlled legislature, and highlighted not only the growing influence of Mr. Graham within his party but also his transformation from Trump critic into a steadfast and outspoken ally.

After a volley of criticism around Mr. Trump’s first presidential run, the two men became close allies, bonding over regular golf outings. While Mr. Graham occasionally voiced disagreements with Mr. Trump, they largely remained in lock step on most policy issues.

“If you want somebody who can go to Washington to help him, I’m your best choice,” Mr. Graham said of Mr. Trump during his recent campaign.

Lindsey Graham was born in Central, S.C., a town in the western part of the state, on July 9, 1955. His parents operated a cafe that he and his sister worked in as they grew up.

“My home was a bar,” he recalled in his 2015 memoir “My Story.” “I was loved. Inside those walls, as much as any child could be loved, by two devoted parents.”

His life changed while in college, when his parents died 15 months apart. His mother died of Hodgkin lymphoma, and his father later died of a heart attack. After their deaths, Mr. Graham became the legal guardian of his 13-year-old sister, Darline, later adopting her so she could receive his military benefits.

“Lindsey was always my parent,” Darline Graham Nordone told The New York Times in an interview at the bar their family once owned at the launch of Mr. Graham’s presidential campaign. “There was no doubt in my mind or anyone else’s mind that Lindsey was my guardian.”

After earning undergraduate and law degrees from the University of South Carolina, Mr. Graham served as a lawyer in the U.S. Air Force before beginning his career in politics. After serving as a judge during the Persian Gulf war, Mr. Graham was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1992. He won a U.S. House seat in 1994 and served four terms, then spent more than two decades in the Senate following his election in 2002.

Mr. Graham’s military career continued throughout much of his time in Congress; he remained in the Air Force Reserve and was briefly deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan as a senator.

“He was a strong advocate for the United States and a strong ally to freedom-loving countries across the globe,” Senator John Thune, Republican of South Dakota and the majority leader, wrote on social media. “He believed in the might of America to achieve good in the world.”

Andrew E. Kramer contributed reporting from Kyiv, Ukraine, and Yan Zhuangfrom Seoul.“