White House Wanted USS John McCain ‘Out of Sight’ During Trump Japan Visit 


U.S. military officials worked to ensure President Trump wouldn’t see the
warship that bears the name of the late senator, a frequent target of the
president’s ire 




A tarp obscures the name of the USS John S. McCain ahead of President
Trump's visit to Japan. 

By 

Rebecca Ballhaus and 

Rebecca Ballhaus

The Wall Street Journal

 

Updated May 30, 2019 2:41 a.m. ET 

The White House wanted the U.S. Navy to move “out of sight” the warship USS
John S. McCain ahead of President Trump’s visit to Japan, according to an
email reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

The ship was named after the father and grandfather of the late senator—a
war hero who became a frequent target of Mr. Trump’s ire—and the senator’s
name was added to the ship in 2018. 

In a May 15 email to U.S. Navy and Air Force officials, a U.S. Indo-Pacific
Command official outlined plans for the president’s arrival that he said had
resulted from conversations between the White House Military Office and the
Seventh Fleet of the U.S. Navy. In addition to instructions for the proper
landing areas for helicopters and preparation for the USS Wasp—where the
president was scheduled to speak—the official issued a third directive: “USS
John McCain needs to be out of sight.”

“Please confirm #3 will be satisfied,” the official wrote.

When a Navy commander expressed surprise about the directive for the USS
John S. McCain, the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command official replied: “First I
heard of it as well.” He said he would work with the White House Military
Office to obtain more information about the order.

Acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan was aware of the concern about the
presence of the USS John McCain in Japan and approved measures to ensure it
didn’t interfere with the president’s visit, a U.S. official said.

While traveling in Indonesia on Thursday, Mr. Shanahan said he first heard
about the matter from reports in the media. 

“What I read this morning was the first I heard about it,” he said.

There were discussions within the U.S. military over the past week about how
to handle the warship, another U.S. official said. The ship is being
repaired after a 2017 collision, and any ship undergoing such repair or
maintenance would be difficult to move, officials said. 

A tarp was hung over the ship’s name ahead of the president’s trip,
according to photos reviewed by the Journal, and sailors were directed to
remove any coverings from the ship that bore its name. 

After the tarp was taken down, a barge was moved closer to the ship,
obscuring its name. Sailors on the ship, who typically wear caps bearing its
name, were given the day off during Mr. Trump’s visit, people familiar with
the matter said.

The picture of the tarp was taken on Friday and the tarp was taken down on
Saturday, a Navy official said. The paint barge was also removed ahead of
the presidential visit, said Cmdr. Clayton Doss, a spokesman for the Navy’s
Seventh Fleet.

“Senior Navy officials in Hawaii and Japan last week determined the ships
should remain in their normal configuration,” a U.S. official said. 

Mr. Trump arrived in Japan on Saturday and on Tuesday—though still Monday in
the U.S.— delivered Memorial Day remarks
<https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-ends-japan-trip-with-memorial-day-addres
ses-to-u-s-troops-11559017614?mod=article_inline>  to troops aboard the USS
Wasp, which was docked along with the USS John McCain at Yokosuka Naval
Base, south of Tokyo. Speaking to around 800 military men and women—some of
whom wore “Make Aircrew Great Again” patches with a likeness of the
president on their jumpsuits—Mr. Trump said he was joined by sailors from
six other ships. He made no mention of the USS John McCain. The White House
declined to answer questions about the reason for the directive or where it
originated. 

Before visiting the USS Wasp, Mr. Trump visited the helicopter carrier JS
Kaga, from which the USS John McCain would have been visible.

The White House Military Office provides support for presidential travel,
among other matters.After the publication of this article, Mr. Trump
tweeted: “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!”

Meghan McCain, Mr. McCain’s daughter, wrote on Twitter: “Nine months since
he passed, Trump won’t let him RIP. So I have to stand up for him. It makes
my grief unbearable.”

Mr. Trump has repeatedly attacked Mr. McCain, both before and since the
Arizonan died in August
<https://www.wsj.com/articles/sen-john-mccain-former-presidential-candidate-
once-a-prisoner-of-war-dies-1535243058?mod=article_inline>  from a brain
tumor at 81 years old. In the first years of the Trump administration, Mr.
McCain was one of the few Republican senators willing to publicly challenge
the president, including casting a critical vote in 2017 that blocked the
GOP effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act. That vote—which Mr. McCain
signaled with a thumbs-down gesture—was a source of immense aggravation for
the president, who has often mimicked the hand motion and who called the
vote “disgraceful” in April.

In March, Mr. Trump complained that he hadn’t been thanked for giving Mr.
McCain “the kind of funeral that he wanted.” Speaking to workers at an Ohio
factory, he said, “I didn’t get a thank you. That’s OK.” He also belittled
Mr. McCain’s academic performance in college and criticized the late senator
for turning over a dossier of unverified allegations about his connections
to Russia to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

During the 2016 campaign, Mr. Trump disparaged Mr. McCain’s military service
in Vietnam, saying he was “not a war hero” and that “I like people who
weren’t captured.”

Mr. McCain was a prisoner of war for 5½ years in Vietnam, where he endured
beatings and solitary confinement, while refusing to accept Vietnamese
offers of early release on the grounds that it would undermine the morale of
others who lacked Mr. McCain’s connections. Mr. McCain was the son and
grandson of admirals, and his father had been promoted to the position of
commander of all U.S. forces in the Pacific theater.

In July 2018, a month before Mr. McCain’s death, Secretary of the Navy
Richard Spencer formally added Mr. McCain as a namesake of the USS John
McCain, which had been named for his father and grandfather after it
launched in 1994. Mr. McCain said at the time that he was “deeply honored.”

The USS John McCain collided with a merchant vessel in August 2017, killing
10 sailors and tearing a hole in the left rear side of the destroyer. Mr.
Trump, asked about the collision at the time, told reporters: “That’s too
bad.” He later tweeted that his thoughts and prayers were with the sailors
aboard the ship. 

EM         -> { Trump for 2020 }

On the 49th Parallel          

                 Thé Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja and Dr. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda is in
anarchy"
                    Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi
"Pamoja na Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja na Dk. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda ni
katika machafuko" 

 

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