I was not informed about anything having to do with the Navy Ship USS John S. McCain during my recent visit to Japan. Nevertheless, @FLOTUS and I loved being with our great Military Men and Women - what a spectacular job they do!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 30, 2019
Source:
https://scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3012372/donald-trump-distances-himself-report-about-white United States & Canada
Donald Trump distances himself from report about White House order to move McCain warship ‘out of sight’ for his Japan trip
- Report says tarp was hung over the ship’s name ahead of Donald Trump’s trip to Japan and sailors were directed to remove coverings from the destroyer that bore its name
- Trump had a rocky relationship with John McCain, who died last year
FILE PHOTO: The US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain is seen after a collision, in Singapore waters August 21, 2017. REUTERS/Ahmad Masood/File Photo
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he was unaware of any effort to move the USS John S. McCain that was stationed near the site of his recent speech in Japan.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the White House wanted the US Navy to move the ship named for the late Arizona senator “out of sight”, citing an email between US military officials.
The email to US Navy and US Air Force officials had a number of directives, including “USS John McCain needs to be out of sight” and asking them to “please confirm” that directive “will be satisfied”.
The newspaper said a tarp was hung over the ship’s name ahead of Trump’s trip and sailors were directed to remove coverings from the destroyer that bore its name.
When a Navy commander expressed surprise at the instruction, the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command official answered, “First I heard of it as well,” the Journal reported. The official said he would talk to the White House Military Office to get more information about the directive, the newspaper reported.
The paper also said sailors assigned to the ship, who generally wear caps bearing its name, were given the day off during Trump’s visit to the nearby USS Wasp.
“I was not informed about anything having to do with the Navy Ship USS John S. McCain during my recent visit to Japan,” Trump wrote on Twitter.
Commander Clay Doss, a spokesman for the US Navy’s Seventh Fleet, said the tarp was taken down on Saturday before Trump’s visit to the area.
“All ships remained in normal configuration during the President’s visit,” Doss said.
A Pentagon spokesman and the White House declined to comment.
In Jakarta, Indonesia, on Thursday morning, Acting US Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan told reporters: “When I read about it this morning, it was the first I heard about it.”
He later told reporters traveling with him to a security conference in Singapore that he would ask his chief of staff to look into the reports.
“I never authorized, I never approved any action around the movement or activities regarding that ship,” Shanahan said.
Two US officials told the AP that all the ships in the harbor were lined up for Trump’s visit, and they were visible from the USS Wasp. The officials said, however, that most of their names probably could not be seen since they were side by side but that the name of the USS John S. McCain could be seen from the pier.
Asked if the tarp was meant to block Trump’s view of the ship, the officials said the tarp had been placed on the ship for maintenance and removed for the visit.
Rear Admiral Charlie Brown, Navy public affairs officer, tweeted Wednesday night: “The name of USS John S. McCain was not obscured during the POTUS visit to Yokosuka on Memorial Day. The Navy is proud of that ship, its crew, its namesake and its heritage.”
McCain, the unsuccessful 2008 Republican presidential nominee, was shot down during the Vietnam war and tortured by his North Vietnamese Communist captors during more than five years in captivity as a prisoner of war.
NEW: The White House wanted the USS John McCain “out of sight” for Trump’s visit to Japan. A tarp was hung over the ship’s name ahead of the trip, and sailors—who wear caps bearing the ship’s name—were given the day off for Trump’s visit. w/@gluboldhttps://t.co/6ugPceCOre pic.twitter.com/KuIoWJK5Kt
— Rebecca Ballhaus (@rebeccaballhaus) May 29, 2019
Trump has long criticised McCain on a variety of fronts, and has kept up his attacks on McCain even following his death in August.
Meghan McCain, the late senator’s elder daughter, criticised Trump on Twitter on Wednesday.
“Trump is a child who will always be deeply threatened by the greatness of my dads incredible life,” she tweeted.
“There is a lot of criticism of how much I speak about my dad, but nine months since he passed, Trump won’t let him RIP. So I have to stand up for him. It makes my grief unbearable.”
Trump is a child who will always be deeply threatened by the greatness of my dads incredible life. There is a lot of criticism of how much I speak about my dad, but nine months since he passed, Trump won't let him RIP. So I have to stand up for him.
It makes my grief unbearable. https://t.co/gUbFAla1VE— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) May 30, 2019
The USS John S. McCain is named for the late senator and his father and grandfather, who were both US Navy admirals.
The destroyer was involved in a 2017 collision that resulted in the deaths of 10 crew members and is currently undergoing repairs.
Additional reporting by Associated Press