Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said on Monday that he will make his presidential ambitions known on June 1 in South Carolina. 
 
 “You’re all invited to come, spend money when you do, and I will tell you what I”m going to do about running for president,” Graham said on “CBS This Morning.” 
 
 Graham all but confirmed that he will jump in the race, saying in the interview, “I’m running because of what you see on television. I’m running because I think the world is falling apart. I’ve done more right than wrong on foreign policy. It’s not the fault of others, or their lack of this or that that makes me want to run. It’s my ability in my own mind to be a good commander in chief and to make Washington work.” 
 
 Graham teased his announcement in an email to supporters on Sunday afternoon. “As an announcement draws near, I need to know you stand with me,” Graham wrote, including a link where supporters could donate money. 
 
 Related: Lindsey Graham for president? 
 
 The South Carolina senator and foreign policy hawk has received support from several top donors, including billionaire Sheldon Adelson. The casino mogul co-chaired a luncheon for Graham’s PAC that immediately followed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s March 3 speech to Congress. At the time, Graham had simply said he was “testing the waters” on 2016. 
 
 Should he declare his candidacy, Graham will enter a crowded Republican field currently lacking a presidential front-runner. But his chances of being competitive are slim. A recent NBC News/Marist poll shows that while the GOP senator is leading the field in the South Carolina primary, when it comes to all state voters, 58% think he shouldn’t even put his hat in the ring. 
 
 Graham earlier this month said he was 98.6% sure he was running. Then, just four days ago, he told South Carolina House Republicans that he was 99.9% sure. ||||| Lindsey Graham is telling donors that June 1 is the likely date for his presidential announcement, according to several sources familiar with the conversations. 
 
 The announcement would likely take place in South Carolina, possibly near his home base of Seneca, according to the sources, which would enable the GOP senator to highlight a compelling personal story not widely known outside his home state. 
 
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 Graham grew up in nearby Central, S.C., in the back of a pool hall run by his parents, who died young. He helped raise his sister while going to college and serving in the Air Force. It’s a hardscrabble story that could help him stand out in a field of candidates with wealthy backgrounds, including Jeb Bush. 
 
 A spokeswoman for Graham said Thursday that she couldn’t confirm any information about a potential announcement. The senator’s team has suggested they were looking at a mid-May time frame. 
 
 Graham’s hawkish views would almost certainly be a central feature of an announcement speech as he weighs a bid premised on his experience on defense and foreign policy. While the three-term senator is a long shot to win the GOP nomination, he could play an important role in driving foreign policy and national security issues to the forefront of the primary debate. 
 
 Graham will be entering a crowded field of Republican presidential contenders that includes three fellow senators who have already formally kicked off their campaigns — Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Marco Rubio. 
 
 So far, the candidates with whom Graham contrasts — and clashes — with most are Paul and Cruz, the former over foreign policy and the latter over his often-uncompromising conservative positions. 
 
 Graham has said he is “98.6 percent” sure he will run, and during appearances in the Palmetto State over the weekend, he all but announced that he’s in. 
 
 “To our enemies: Get ready, because there’s a new way of doing business coming,” Graham said last Friday at a state GOP Silver Elephant dinner. “To our friends: Get ready for the America that you used to know. To Iowa and New Hampshire: Hello. To South Carolina, you have my heart.” ||||| Jim Cole / AP ID: 5672497 
 
 WASHINGTON — If Lindsey Graham really runs for president, most expect him to serve as a protest candidate, pushing and provoking the rest of the Republican field on foreign policy. 
 
 There is one place, however, where any move Graham makes right now is affecting the Republican field: South Carolina. Republican contenders have descended on the early primary state to raise money and secure endorsements, but donors, lawmakers, and activists are in a bit of freeze — and at least for now, deferring to Graham’s clout in the state. 
 
 “A lot of folks I’ve talked to in a lot of the campaigns that have come through the state have mentioned the inability to raise money right now in South Carolina,” a political operative in the state told BuzzFeed News, “because so much of the donor class is waiting on Lindsey Graham’s decision.” 
 
 “It makes sense, he’s the senior senator from South Carolina: He ought to have a lot of good donor contacts. Those donors realize at the end of the day they have a voice in the Senate they can’t get crossways with,” the operative said. Activists “can’t do anything either right now, a lot of them.” 
 
 Like Iowa and New Hampshire, the state’s become busy fast, especially for certain candidates: Ted Cruz and Rick Perry have made 10 trips each; Marco Rubio has traveled there five times and has close ties to people in the state. Rand Paul has been there seven times and has relationships with quite a few members of the state’s congressional delegation. But for many South Carolinians, waiting to see what Graham does is as much about saving money as it is about politics. 
 
 “People are deferring to the senior senator, more from a financial standpoint than anything else,” said one former party official there who noted that he’d spoken with a donor who argued that Lindsey is “60 years old, this is his one shot at it.” 
 
 “He makes sense on national security, he could get lightning in a bottle on this Iran deal, and it saves me money now and I can still spend money later,” the official recalled the donor saying. 
 
 One Republican operative in the state said people were less impatient with Graham for causing a delay than they are eager for him to start running. 
 
 “There are a lot of people very eager to hear the answer, among activists, among donors,” the operative said. “Are they waiting to hear the answer so they can make plans? I would think so.” 
 
 According to Graham, people won’t have to wait much longer but he acknowledged in an interview with BuzzFeed News that many people were in a holding pattern waiting to see what he ultimately decides. 
 
 “Supporters are waiting to see what I do and the wait won’t be much longer. I’m 98.6% sure I will run,” Graham said. “I’m the senator and congressman they’ve known for 20 years… There’s a lot of support in South Carolina for the ideas I represent, not just me. But if I run, I run to win. I’m not running to make a point here. 
 
 “If I’m in this race in South Carolina, I will win South Carolina.” 
 
 South Carolina’s influential congressional delegation has been careful to not endorse anyone in the race at this point. One member of the delegation, speaking on background, said that politicians in the state generally wanted give Graham some room to decide, but it would not ultimately influence who they end up endorsing. 
 
 “Lindsey is a very pragmatic guy,” the lawmaker said. “He knows he has to make up his mind soon but he’s also not going to hold it against us if we go with someone else.” 
 
 Graham said that members of the delegation should “do what they think is best, I leave that decision to them.” 
 
 At the state party convention in Columbia last weekend, Graham spoke three times: at the Silver Elephant dinner, where he essentially announced a run; at a breakfast the next morning; and at the convention itself. “To Iowa and New Hampshire, hello,” Graham told the audience at the dinner. “To South Carolina, you have my heart, thank you very much.” He was enthusiastically received at all three events, but many activists are already loyal to other potential candidates who have already formed deep relationships in the state. 
 
 “I know there are a lot of people who have a fondness for Santorum and for Perry and for Huckabee off past years, and they have some deep roots here,” said Don Fort, a Republican activist from Charleston and former vice chair of his county party, who was attending the convention. 
 
 “I would expect [Graham] to have announced here and today, but on the whole I think he’s still waiting on money and numbers to really give him a yes/no, because it’s bound to step on some toes,” Fort said. 
 
 Though it’s a point of frustration currently, the deference to Graham among the state’s political establishment may not last for too long. Just Tuesday, Sen. Ted Cruz announced his South Carolina leadership team, that included state Sen. Lee Bright as a co-chairman. Bright unsuccessfully tried to primary Graham in the 2014 senate race. A senior political operative in the state predicted Graham would ultimately struggle in South Carolina if he chose to run for the White House. 
 
 “The state’s not going to rally behind him, because the Oval Office is 100% different than a single Senate seat,” the operative said. “And the candidates who are deferring to Sen. Graham are deferring only because it’s their best or only South Carolina strategy, at this point. Jeb certainly falls into that category.” 
 
 “Every other candidate is proceeding as if Sen. Graham doesn’t exist; that’s telling.” ||||| AP Photo Lindsey Graham eyes May presidential announcement 
 
 Sen. Lindsey Graham said Sunday there’s a better than 90 percent chance he’ll run for president, saying he’ll decide in May. 
 
 “If I can raise the money, I’ll do it,” the South Carolina Republican said on “Fox News Sunday.” 
 
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 Graham said he’ll win South Carolina if he’s on the ballot, pointing out he won his reelection primary there last year by more than 40 points, despite challenges from multiple candidates. A recent poll of the GOP presidential primary field in South Caroilna, however, showed him trailing Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. 
 
 “If I didn’t think I could win South Carolina, I wouldn’t be talking to you,” Graham said. 
 
 The South Carolina senator offered the strong signal that he’ll run for president after being told that former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina recently indicated she was 90 percent certain to enter the race. Asked by Fox host Chris Wallace to offer a percentage likelihood that he’d run, Graham said, “91.” 
 
 The third-term senator has staked his prospective bid for the GOP presidential nomination on his foreign policy chops, running as a hawk on Iran and using the Fox News interview to land broadsides on some of his potential Republican opponents and the Obama administration. 
 
 Still, he’s viewed skeptically by a Republican base wary of his support for immigration reform that includes a pathway to citizenship and of a debt reduction plan that would raise new revenue in addition to cutting entitlement and other spending. 
 
 In particular, Graham offered underhanded praise for Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), predicting the first-term senator “will be president someday” but that 2016 might not be his time. 
 
 Graham saved his most pointed barbs for Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who’s championed a less muscular approach to foreign policy. Graham said Paul wants to treat captured terrorists as criminals rather than wartime combatants. “He wants to fight a crime,” Graham said. “I’m fighting a war.” ||||| (CNN) Senator Lindsey Graham is ending his presidential campaign, he told CNN during an exclusive interview airing Monday. 
 
 "I'm going to suspend my campaign. I'm not going to suspend my desire to help the country," the South Carolina senator said in a wide-ranging and candid discussion in which he acknowledged: "I've hit a wall here." 
 
 He made the official announcement in an email to supporters and Youtube video posted Monday morning. 
 
 Graham is known for his quick wit and famous for his one-liners (just ask Princess Buttercup about his retort from the last debate), but he was sober, serious and emotional as he described his decision to leave the race just weeks before the voting begins. 
 
 One thing is clear: Graham still wants his voice heard on the direction his party is headed, especially with regard to the Middle East. 
 
 "Here's what I predict. I think the nominee of our party is going to adopt my plan when it comes time to articulate how to destroy ISIL," he said. "We've fallen short here, but the fight continues. To those who are doing the fighting, I want to be your voice. To those in the Republican Party who want to win, check my plan out. Hillary, if you get to be President, I'll help you where I can. I hope you're not. But if you are, I'll be there to help you win a war we can't afford to lose." 
 
 Graham's decision -- which leaves a field of 12 main GOP candidates (CNN had 13 at its last Republican debate, including Graham) -- comes just days after the CNN Republican Presidential Debate in Las Vegas, where he was widely viewed as dominating the undercard debate. 
 
 "Four months ago at the very first debate, I said that any candidate who did not understand that we need more troops on the ground in Iraq and Syria to defeat ISIL was not ready to be Commander in Chief," Graham wrote in the email. "At the time, no one stepped forward to join me. Today, most of my fellow candidates have come to recognize this is what's needed to secure our homeland." 
 
 He added, "While we have run a campaign that has made a real difference, I have concluded this is not my time." 
 
 JUST WATCHED Graham: 'If you want to win this war, follow me' Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Graham: 'If you want to win this war, follow me' 01:35 
 
 "My biggest problem is a lot of people like what I say, but not a lot of people hear it," he told CNN. "I don't want to be the undercard voice. I cannot tell you how frustrating it has been to have spent all this time and effort preparing myself to be Commander-in-Chief and to be put at the 'kiddie table'." His advice to his party as it relates to the debate format: "Never do this again." 
 
 Graham's campaign strategy had been laser-focused on New Hampshire: Place high in that first primary state on February 9 and use the momentum to propel him forward. So why not hold out until then? 
 
 Photos: Lindsey Graham's political career Photos: Lindsey Graham's political career Click through to see highlights from U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham's political career: Hide Caption 1 of 14 Photos: Lindsey Graham's political career Graham; Sir Elton John, center; and filmmaker and John's husband, David Furnish, pose after testimony at a U.S. Senate hearing on the global fight against AIDS on May 6, 2015. Graham and Democratic Sen. Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont hosted John as part of their bipartisan effort to combat HIV infection. Hide Caption 2 of 14 Photos: Lindsey Graham's political career Graham rushes to the Senate chamber to vote on an attempt to override U.S. President Barack Obama's veto of the Keystone XL Pipeline legislation March 4, 2015. Graham was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2002 and was re-elected in 2008 and 2014. Hide Caption 3 of 14 Photos: Lindsey Graham's political career Graham listens to testimony during a Senate Armed Services Committee meeting on national security strategy on January 27, 2015. According to his website , Graham continues to serve his country in the U.S. Air Force Reserves as a senior individual mobilization augmentee to the judge advocate general. Hide Caption 4 of 14 Photos: Lindsey Graham's political career Graham arrives for a closed briefing of the Armed Services Committee on July 30, 2014. Before serving in the Senate, Graham was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994. Hide Caption 5 of 14 Photos: Lindsey Graham's political career Graham talks to U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, before a news conference on Capitol Hill on July 24, 2014. Hide Caption 6 of 14 Photos: Lindsey Graham's political career Graham and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, right, listen as President Barack Obama delivers the State of the Union address on January 28, 2014. Graham was in the U.S. Air Force and logged six-and-a-half years of service on active duty as an Air Force lawyer. Hide Caption 7 of 14 Photos: Lindsey Graham's political career Graham holds a news conference on Benghazi, Libya, at the U.S. Capitol on October 30, 2013. From left, he is flanked by Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona; Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah; and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio. Graham has been an outspoken critic of how the Obama administration has handled the September 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. diplomatic, in which four U.S. citizens died. Hide Caption 8 of 14 Photos: Lindsey Graham's political career Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, meets with U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, and Graham on June 30, 2013, in Jerusalem. Hide Caption 9 of 14 Photos: Lindsey Graham's political career McCain, left, and Graham speak during a news conference about Benghazi on February 14, 2013, on Capitol Hill. Hide Caption 10 of 14 Photos: Lindsey Graham's political career Graham talks with reporters before heading into the Senate Republican Caucus policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol May 8, 2012. Hide Caption 11 of 14 Photos: Lindsey Graham's political career Graham speaks to reporters after a news conference about his Social Security reform plan at the U.S. Capitol on April 13, 2011. Hide Caption 12 of 14 Photos: Lindsey Graham's political career Graham, left, and McCain call on participants during a health care town hall meeting on September 14, 2009 at the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. According to his website, Graham is a native South Carolinian and grew up in a blue collar family in the small town of Central, where his parents ran a restaurant and pool hall. Hide Caption 13 of 14 Photos: Lindsey Graham's political career U.S. President George W. Bush, left, stands with Graham on the steps of Air Force One at the airport in Greenville, South Carolina, in March 2002. Hide Caption 14 of 14 
 
 "I'm not trying to hold out. I'm trying to make a difference. I think the best way for me to make a difference is to think about helping somebody else," he said. 
 
 In another key primary state, South Carolina, he faces a Monday December 21 deadline to keep his name off the ballot, potentially helping Graham avoid an embarrassing showing in his home state. Asked whether that fueled his decision to drop out now, Graham said no and added that he'd risk it if he saw a way to turn things around. 
 
 "At the end of the day, I'm not going to be competitive in my state," he said. "I'm not going to be competitive outside my state." 
 
 Asked who he would endorse, Graham demurred. "I'm going to take some time with my family. Going to think about what I should do. I have no intention of endorsing anyone right now." Later, he said that if he were to endorse, he's looking for the candidate best fit to be Commander-in-Chief and also who can win. 
 
 JUST WATCHED Graham: Trump is a 'race-baiting, xenophobic' bigot Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Graham: Trump is a 'race-baiting, xenophobic' bigot 03:34 
 
 As for the candidate Graham has traded barbs with the most since he entered the race in early June, Graham struck a markedly softer tone toward Donald Trump."You're doing really well. I'm impressed with your campaign," he said. 
 
 Graham -- who recently urged Republicans to tell Trump to " go to hell " -- also did not rule out accepting a Cabinet position in a Trump administration in the future. 
 
 But he did offer these parting words for Trump: "We're at war. A lot of men and women are at risk overseas. Watch what you say over here." 
 
 "You may wind up being the nominee of the Republican Party," he added. "The Republican Party's future may be in your hands. The future of the country will be in your hands if you're President of the United States. This is not a game show. This is not a reality show." 
 
 Candidly, Graham said he has a lot of regrets looking back at his campaign. "I regret that I haven't been a better candidate. I regret that I never got on the big stage. I regret that I didn't make it to the final group. But that's just about me. I have no regrets about running for President," he said. "It has been the joy of my life to run for President of the United States."
– Sounds like Sen. Lindsey Graham is pretty much in for Election 2016, but you'll have to wait until June 1 to find out for sure. The hosts of CBS This Morning noted that the senator, a guest today, has said there's a "99.9% chance" he'll run for president, and Graham said he'll announce June 1 in South Carolina. He was then asked if he's running because he thinks he's bringing foreign policy experience to the table, and he responded: "I'm running because of what you see on television. I'm running because I think the world is falling apart. I've been more right than wrong on foreign policy. It's not the fault of others, or their lack of this or that, that makes me want to run; it's my ability in my own mind to be a good commander in chief and to make Washington work." As for that "99.9%" comment, Graham made it to South Carolina House Republicans last week, the State reported. "And I'm going to run about what I'm going to do, not what I'm against," he told a caucus meeting. The week prior, Graham told BuzzFeed he was "98.6% sure" he would run. And Politico reported earlier this month that Graham was likely to announce a presidential run June 1 from South Carolina, noting that the location "would enable the GOP senator to highlight a compelling personal story not widely known outside his home state." (His parents, who ran a pool hall where he was raised, died young, and he helped bring up his sister while also attending college and serving in the Air Force.) MSNBC notes that Graham emailed supporters yesterday with this line: "As an announcement draws near, I need to know you stand with me," as well as an invitation to donate money.