AP sources: White House wanted USS McCain moved for Trump
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AP sources: White House wanted USS McCain moved for Trump
LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press 4 hours ago
President Donald Trump greets troops after speaking at a Memorial Day event aboard the USS Wasp, Tuesday, May 28, 2019, in Yokosuka, Japan. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)The White House wanted the U.S. Navy to keep a warship named for the late Sen. John McCain out of President Donald Trump's view during his trip to Japan, three U.S. officials said Wednesday.
As first reported by The Wall Street Journal, a U.S. Indo-Pacific Command official wrote an email to Navy and Air Force officials about Trump's arrival in Japan over Memorial Day weekend. It included instructions for the proper landing areas for helicopters and preparations for the USS Wasp, the ship on which the president was to speak.
The official then issued a third instruction: "USS John McCain needs to be out of sight," according to the email, which was obtained by the Journal and whose existence was confirmed to The Associated Press.
The three U.S. officials spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss private email correspondence.
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.
In response to the story, Trump — who feuded with McCain publicly for years and at one point mocked his military service — tweeted that he "was not informed about anything having to do with the Navy Ship USS John S. McCain during my recent visit to Japan."
The president notably does not say that he was not informed about the ship before his visit to Japan. A message seeking clarification was left late Wednesday for White House press secretary Sarah Sanders.
In Jakarta, Indonesia, on Thursday morning, Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan told reporters, "When I read that this morning was the first I'd heard about it."
Asked if he would do an investigation, he said, "I need to find out a little bit more - just had the first glimpse of it this morning."
The Wall Street Journal reported that a tarp was placed over the USS John S. McCain's name before Trump's arrival, according to photos it reviewed, and that sailors were instructed to remove any coverings from the ship that included its name.
U.S. Navy Cdr. Clay Doss, spokesman for U.S. 7th Fleet, told the AP that the tarp was on the ship on Friday but was removed by Saturday morning, the day Trump arrived. "All ships remained in normal configuration during the President's visit," he said.
Two U.S. 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 Adm. 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."
Two U.S. officials said a paint barge was in front of the USS John S. McCain on Saturday morning when 7th Fleet officials walked the pier to see how everything looked for the visit. The barge was then ordered to be moved and was gone by the time Trump arrived, the officials said.
The Journal reported, based on people familiar with the matter, that sailors on the USS John S. McCain, who usually wear hats with the ship's name on it, were given the day off when Trump visited.
Two U.S. officials told the AP that sailors on the USS John S. McCain were not told to stay away but that many were away for the long weekend. The officials also said that about 800 sailors from more than 20 ships and Navy commands were on the USS Wasp during the president's visit, and all wore the same Navy hat that has no logo, rather than wearing individual ship or command hats.
Trump and McCain had a frosty relationship and that continued, on Trump's part, even after McCain died in August 2018 of brain cancer.
In 2015, McCain, a Republican senator from Arizona, had gotten under then-candidate Trump's skin by saying he had "fired up the crazies" at a rally in Phoenix. Trump, also a Republican, later told a crowd in Iowa that McCain was only a war hero "because he was captured. I like people who weren't captured."
After Trump took office, McCain established himself as a leading critic, opposing Trump's immigration-limiting order, warning him against coziness with Moscow and lecturing him on the illegality of torture. The senator incensed the president with his thumbs-down vote that foiled the president's efforts to repeal President Barack Obama's health care law.
Trump was not welcome at McCain's funeral and raised the White House's U.S. flag back to full-staff shortly after McCain's death, despite U.S. Flag Code stating that it should remain at half-staff for another day. The flag returned to half-staff later in the day.
McCain's daughter, Meghan, tweeted Wednesday that Trump will "always be deeply threatened by the greatness of my dads incredible life."
She added, "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."
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The White House wanted the U.S. Navy to keep a warship named for the late Sen. John McCain out of President Donald Trump's view during his trip to Japan, three U.S. officials said Wednesday.
As first reported by The Wall Street Journal, a U.S. Indo-Pacific Command official wrote an email to Navy and Air Force officials about Trump's arrival in Japan over Memorial Day weekend. It included instructions for the proper landing areas for helicopters and preparations for the USS Wasp, the ship on which the president was to speak.
The official then issued a third instruction: "USS John McCain needs to be out of sight," according to the email, which was obtained by the Journal and whose existence was confirmed to The Associated Press.
The Wall Street Journal reported that a tarp was placed over the USS John S. McCain's name before Trump's arrival, according to photos it reviewed, and that sailors were instructed to remove any coverings from the ship that included its name.
U.S. Navy Cdr. Clay Doss, spokesman for U.S. 7th Fleet, told the AP that the tarp was on the ship on Friday but was removed by Saturday morning, the day Trump arrived. "All ships remained in normal configuration during the President's visit," he said.
Two U.S. 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.
What a petty, vindictive, nasty, whiny little bitch.
Just another unsubstantiated and unverified piece of propaganda from the left wing Trump haters.
And after all, he is the commander-in-chief.
And your description of McCain is quite accurate.
Except it includes pictures. Would you care to explain why ship maintenance requires a tarp to be placed only over its name???
like trmp could even read the name plate
It was also explained that the picture was from the day before and the tarp had been removed before Trump arrived. They also explained that there was a paint barge there also so perhaps the tarp was to protect from overspray?
Explained by someone who wasn't even there. Do you have a picture of the ship while Trump was there, or are you just relying on a statement by a public relations officer?
I guess we should start calling these deflections or derails or trollings Rumpsplaining.
Do you accept a statement by Trump himself? He referred to it as "well meaning" although he wasn't involved in the discussion.
Ironically, the ship was never originally named after Senator McCain at all. She was named after his grandfather and father, who both served in WW II as a Admiral and a Captain respectively. Senator McCain was added as co sponsor as a afterthought in 2018. Just a bit of historical clarification there.
I relied on what was in the posted article with this seed.
that's not what I said. Looking at the picture you posted, sure looks like the tarp is on the bow of the ship and is actually between the ship and the paint barge. But by all means, attack attack attack...
I have no idea what picture you are looking at. I posted a picture taken from the dock showing the stern with a tarp covering only the name.
You are correct, it's the stern. I was looking at the picture you posted in 3.1.2
Or his administration knows what a petty, vindictive, nasty, whiny little bitch their boss is and wanted to make sure he wouldn't have a hissy fit.
Well, that's the actual reason.
That's my follow-up to my third comment when I realized they did this without his knowledge.
Based on the AP's false story about the removal of MLK's statue, I'll have to regard this story as false until proven
I await your apology Vic.
NBC news has verified the existence of an email from the White House to military authorities asking that the USS John McCain be removed from the president's line of vision during Trump's visit to a nearby ship while he was in Japan. The question is what if anything Trump knew about it. The surmise is that White House staff did it without his knowledge as they attempted to pre-empt him throwing a fit once he saw the McCain name in his vicinity. Your president is a weirdo.
So where is NBC's verification? This has the look and smell of another anti-Trump hit piece.
John, let's first get the reporting straight:
"As first reported by The Wall Street Journal, a U.S. Indo-Pacific Command official wrote an email to Navy and Air Force officials about Trump's arrival in Japan over Memorial Day weekend. It included instructions for the proper landing areas for helicopters and preparations for the USS Wasp, the ship on which the president was to speak.
The official then issued a third instruction: "USS John McCain needs to be out of sight," according to the email, which was obtained by the Journal and whose existence was confirmed to The Associated Press."
Next, "The surmose is that White House staff did it without his knowledge as they attempted to pre-empt him throwing a fit once he saw the McCain name in his vicinity" Is your opinion. Didn't you tell me yesterday that my opinion is irrelevant?
Finally, How was the e-mail verified and by whom? Please tell me why this would be a news story, other than to take another swipe at Trump?
Using the same unverified, unsubstantiated, anonymous sources that the other articles do.
There are more sources for the the press than there are White House officials that could ever leak things.
No one must take a swipe at the turd, all hail the turd.
Your opinion is irrelevant regarding the law
You remembered!
(CNBC)
.
How was the e-mail verified
By sight?
.
by whom?
America?
Morning Joe
Emails shed light on efforts to put USS John McCain 'out of sight'
This is a tweet not an email. Who was the email from? and to whom?
Where is the original email?
Those are the questions that can't be answered because the information was leaked. As for the by "whom" part, I believe President Trump referred to them best - "by some of the worst people on earth". Another Trumpism I love!
Agreed, but the tweet is a copy of the email.
WHMO ( the White House Military Office ) and C7F (Commander 7Tth Fleet )
One can safely assume it is somewhere on a .mil server which is above our pay grade.
AP/Yahoo and left wing media prefer their one-sided narrative, but we all know that there are two (sometimes more) sides to a story:
'AP/Yahoo and left wing media prefer their one-sided narrative.'
You're talking about one sided narrative and then cite a Faux 'news' source.'
Freaking hilarious!!!!!
I added a different perspective to the seeded story that supported my comment about narratives.
Fux 'news's one sided narrative. Got it.
More bait for the TDS sufferers.
Only one side to this story. See verification above.
The Navy Times doesn't seem to agree with that. Suck it up, the Trumpers in the WH tried to make sure the fuckwit didn't have a temper tantrum if he saw anything with McCain's name on it. The thought of all these republicans trying to defend this shit is disgusting and I hope they never live it down. Read this. The wh did send the email, Trump admitted it, said they meant well.
Did you miss something?
New York Times anonymous sources again...including the one above that was debunked....
TDS has become so prevalent that it is hard to believe most articles coming from the NYT.
TRUMP'S PEOPLE LIE EVERY DAY. THIS IS THE PRICE YOU PAY. They are all trying to be 'loyal' and not stir the pot. Including top brass, unfortunately. Given the truth of the emails, the denials are worthless. THEY DID TRY TO HIDE 'MCCAIN' FROM TRUMP. That's the freaking point.
You mean stolen, leaked, and possibly edited emails?
Where is the original email?
We need to be more careful about misinformation....
The story was debunked....let the TDS go.
That's already been explained to you dear. No debunking.
Next you'll be asking about the original birth certificate.
Did you hear Trump jackass about this today? He spent more time running down John McCain again then he did defending his White House staff. And, oh, he seems to be acknowledging that it happened.
Where is the original email? Who leaked it? Who stole it?
TDS sufferers luv themselves leakers and thieves....
And Navy Public Relations is simply covering as many butts as possible. That's their job. It has nothing to do with telling the truth.
The same NPRO that while still refusing to endorse UFOs could be 'alien spacecraft' has recently started to update reporting processes for reporting
unidentified aircraft to collect more data without threatening the careers of our professional naval aviators.
Yes, it can be and has been a career ender to report the truth to the Navy and/or expect the truth from a military public relations officer.
Their job is PR and not the truth.
The way you defend Trump reminds me of someone trying to roll a boulder up the side of a mountain with their nose.
[deleted]
There is no such thing as TDS.
It's like that old Harry Truman saying “I never give them hell. I just tell the truth and they think it's hell.”
There is no Trump derangement syndrome. We tell the Trumpsters the truth and they think it's derangement.
What truth? Stolen emails? Perhaps sane people think that a person who would steal emails from the government would more than likely alter them too.
But you keep believing criminals. Hold tight to your truths.........lol.
Google "trump uss McCain well meaning" and you will see that Trump says it happened.
Let me know when you are going to stop embarrassing yourself.
Even Trump himself doesnt deny it happened. And that lying piece of crap denies everything.
One must never let something like the truth get in the way of a good scandal by the left...
He said he didn't know anything about it.
You left that part out.
That makes it even worse. Think about it.
Donald Trump has always created his own scandals. Why do you think his parents shipped him off to an all male military school in the first place? The Donald has always figured that girls were to be fucked whether they wanted to be or not. This trend has continued. Only now it's the U.S.A. getting screwed by Trump's insatiable greed for power.
A compulsive liar and seriously incompetent (+ a whole bunch of other intellect and personality flaws).
You believe everything trump says and he's a criminal. Pot, meet kettle.
That is funny. Did you believe everything Hillary said?
I don't believe everything anyone says. I also don't let hatred cloud reasoning and common sense.
You? Reasoning and common sense?
good job, you typed more than two words.
Denial. Denial. Denial.
TDS
three words...wow
Those seem to be the only words you know dear
But..........but...........but...........HILLARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jesus H. Christ... Were we talking about someone who lost an election 3 years ago? Or, were we talking about the current POTUS?
Was it Hillary that the WH said the USS McCain needed to be moved for? Or was it the current POTUS?
[Jeopardy! music playing]
We get it, when you got nothing, deflect.
Some of y'all are bending over backwards to debunk something that's true. Unbelievable the lengths you go to defend the indefensible.
Hilarious!
NAVY CONFIRMS MEDIA LIED ABOUT TRUMP AND THE USS JOHN MCCAIN
By Milne News, May 30, 2019
Ah, it never ends does it?
So basically The Wall Street Journal has been banging on about some claim from somewhere that the White House per President Trump’s request wanted the USS John McCain “out of sight” for when the President made his visit.
The WSJ also reported Wednesday that a tarp was put in place to cover the ship’s name.
Then a few media outlets, “journalists” and your all round anti-Trumper circulated the image of the USS John McCain with a tarp covering the name of the ship.
Is the claim true?
Of course not, this is the mainstream media we are talking about.
The picture was from Friday.
A spokesperson for the Pacific Fleet even confirmed the image is from Friday and the tarp was taken down on Saturday.
“We didn’t do anything to obstruct the name of the ship. The Wall Street Journal piece refers to a photo of a tarp covering the ship, that photo was taken Friday, May 24, the tarp was removed the following day,” another US Navy official said.
“All ships remained in normal configuration during the President’s visit” CDR Nate Christensen said.
Another claim is that the White House Military Office emailed lower-level US Navy officials about keeping the ship out of view. A claim reported by CNN of course.
The Wall Street Journal also reported that a barge had been moved so as to obscure the name of the ship. Also not true, one official said: “the barge had been there regularly. At one angle, you might not have seen the ship’s name, but the name was visible at all times.”
The ship was not moved nor was anything done to obscure John McCain’s name. This was also confirmed by Cmdr. Clay Doss, a spokesman for the 7th Fleet.
The US Navy’s chief of information, Rear Adm. Charlie Brown, also tweeted Wednesday night that the name had been visible.
“The name of USS John S. McCain was not obscured during the POTUS visit to Yokosuka on Memorial Day,” Brown said in a tweet. “The Navy is proud of that ship, its crew, its namesake and its heritage.”
President Trump tweeted Wednesday night that he was “not informed about anything having to do with the Navy Ship USS John S. McCain.”
Speaking to reporters on Thursday morning before leaving the White House, President Trump said that although he “is not a big fan” of McCain, he wouldn’t have supported moving the ship, obstructing it or covering the name.
So there it is folks, another ridiculous made up story from the mainstream media debunked…again.
SNOPES rating for the ORIGINAL FALSE STORY: "UNPROVEN"
The requests were made, and if Trump didn't know it (we'll never really know, will we, the guy lies about literally everything). The fact his people think this is what he wants and needs makes it even worse. The guy has a problem with John McCain and his people tried to hide the name. regardless what ended up being done. The crew wasn't allowed to be at Trump's function like the crews from other ships were. FFS Buzz, would you want this jackass representing your country? If there is a discrepancy in stories, I'll pick the one opposite of what Trump and his sycophants say.
It's true Buzz. Mind your business. LOL.
PROVEN. TRUE.
NOT DEBUNKED, AGAIN.
White House Wanted USS John McCain 'Out of Sight' for Trump: Report
The ship is currently under repair and difficult to move following a 2017 collision, the newspaper said. A tarp was hung over the ship’s name ahead of Trump’s visit, according to the WSJ, citing photos it reviewed. Sailors were directed to remove any coverings from the ship that bore its name, the Journal said. It also reported that sailors on the ship who typically wear hats with the vessel’s name on it were given the day off.
The White House declined to respond to queries about the reason for the directive or where it came from, the WSJ said. Trump himself subsequently tweeted:
Meanwhile, Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said Thursday that he hadn’t had knowledge of any such events.
“I never authorized, I never approved any action around the movement or activity regarding that ship. Furthermore, I would never dishonor the memory of a great American patriot like Senator McCain,” he told reporters while en route Singapore. “I also think it is important, I’d never disrespect the young men and women that crew that ship. I’ve asked my chief of staff to look into the matter.”Trump has repeatedly attacked John McCain, who died in August, saying the late senator wrongly supported the war in Iraq, failed to “get the job done” for veterans and “badly” hurt the Republican party and the nation by voting against repealing Obamacare.
I was involved with several Navy aviation accidents, both training accidents and airshow accidents in which there were pilots killed and a great deal of private property damage and I can tell you that it was almost always pilot error, but the Navy Public Relation office/officer always made sure that the final outcome was mechanical failure. Presumably for both the families sake and to reduce the capital settlement with private citizens for property damages.
Now this was 20 plus years ago, but I have absolutely no doubt that the Navy is lying about the Friday, Saturday thing.
The White House Military office apparently requested from the Commander 7TH Fleet that the USS McCain not be obvious.
That order did not come from Trump, and I personally have not seen that accusation.
Your hair on fire outrage of American political nonsense is amusing considering your nationality and location.
Next you will be telling us lawyers aren't allowed to lie./s
'Your hair on fire outrage of American political nonsense is amusing considering your nationality and location.'
YOU'RE amused!!! LOLOLOL I'm not at ALL outraged. You're amusing the whole world.
"...considering your nationality and location." - makes my opinions a lot more objective than yours.
This is not directed to Buzz alone, but to everyone who participated in this thread after this point.
Please stop making personal snipes at each other. Any comments like the ones I removed will get points.
Buzz - the WSJ and Fortune - are not the mainstream media.
When Snopes changes its designation from "Unproven" to "True", I'll agree that it's true. Until then.......maybe it is and maybe it isn't. By the way, posting on NT IS my business, but I'll be happy not to have any connection or contact with you provided you agree vice versa. Don't think I don't notice that you jump at the chance to thumb-up virtually every insult and smear aimed at me or even any disagreement.
It gives me great pleasure to vote against you. I'll do it every chance I get. Nothing you can do about it.
Poor baby. Sniff. Need a tissue?
Sounds like trumps staff knows that he is an easily triggered snowflake with the maturity of a 6 year old. Maybe they should get him a comfort puppy for his safe space when he is done screaming at the sky.