US Senator Lindsey Graham said Tuesday that he will carry on his close friend Sen. John McCain’s legacy in the Senate by trying to convince President Donald Trump to keep US troops in Afghanistan, according to US Washington Examiner.

The president should know a withdrawal from the almost 17-year-old war would “blow up” in his face, said Graham, who spoke to reporters about McCain following an emotional floor speech on the Arizona Republican’s death.

Graham said he was vowing to channel the politics of the late Senate Armed Services chairman, who was often a fierce critic of Trump and the Pentagon but also a champion of using US military might abroad, the Examiner reported.

“I’m going to make sure that the Congress keeps asking the hard questions and try to persuade President Trump, if you leave Afghanistan, it will blow up in your face, that hoping Syria gets better without a strategy won’t work, and do it in a Lindsey way,” he said.

Last year, McCain threatened to force an Afghanistan strategy on the Pentagon after the administration delayed issuing its own new policy for months. He also blocked Trump’s nominees in October in an effort to get the military to be more forthcoming on Afghanistan, Syria, and operations in Africa.

McCain and Trump also had a deeply strained relationship, so much so that the president at first refused to keep federal flags lowered to half-staff until McCain’s burial on Sunday.

Graham has had a closer relationship with Trump and his administration that has included golfing with the president while also publicly breaking with him on some issues.