Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said this week that a war with North Korea would be "worth it" in the long term.

Graham made the comments in an interview with CNN.

"All the damage that would come from a war would be worth it in terms of long-term stability and national security," the senator told CNN.

Graham's remark comes amid reports that the U.S. is prepared for the possibility of a military strike against North Korea.

Korean leaders are pushing diplomacy in the troubled region in the weeks following the Winter Olympics. South Korea's president told President Trump in a phone call earlier this week that he is planning to send a special envoy to Pyongyang.

Graham has in the past repeated a warning that the U.S. is "headed toward a war" with North Korea and praised Trump's "fire and fury" rhetoric against the country. He praised the Trump administration for drawing a hard line on North Korean aggression and also told CNN that he is "completely convinced" that Trump rejects a containment policy.

"They've drawn a red line here and it is to never let North Korea build a nuclear tipped missile to hit America," he said.

A former national security adviser in the Obama administration on Friday pointed out Graham's comment on Twitter, writing that the senator has "lost his god damn mind."