Not a big fan
One of Trump’s people told the Navy to hide a warship from Trump when he was in Japan, because…
…because it is named USS John S. McCain.
Not an Onion story. Repeat, not an Onion story.
President Trump on Thursday defended as “well-meaning” a White House official who directed the Navy to obscure the warship USS John S. McCain while Trump was visiting Japan, but he said he had no advance knowledge of the action.
“I don’t know what happened. I was not involved. I would not have done that,” Trump told reporters as he was leaving the White House for Colorado, where he is scheduled to address an Air Force Academy graduation ceremony.
He “would not have done that” because he would have pitched sixteen public fits about McCain instead.
Trump, however, suggested that his disdain for the late senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) is well-known and that it was understandable that someone would try to keep a warship originally named for McCain’s father and grandfather, both Navy admirals, from his view.
“I was not a big fan of John McCain in any shape or form,” Trump said. “Now, somebody did it because they thought I didn’t like him, okay? And they were well-meaning.”
Which is to say: “Yes, I am indeed a childish petty vengeful idiot with no concept of how to act like an adult when people are watching.”
A senior White House official confirmed Wednesday that the person who issued the directive did not want the warship with the McCain name seen in photographs during Trump’s visit. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said that the president was not involved in the planning, but that the request was made to keep Trump from becoming upset.
That is, the request was made to keep Trump from becoming upset and having a huge showy tantrum in public thus humiliating the entire country for the forty millionth time.
A senior Navy official confirmed Wednesday that he was aware that someone at the White House sent a message to service officials in the Pacific requesting that the USS John McCain be kept out of the picture while the president was there. That led to photographs taken Friday of a tarp obscuring the McCain name, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.
When senior Navy officials grasped what was happening, they directed Navy personnel who were present to stop, the senior official said. The tarp was removed Saturday, before Trump’s visit, he added.
Did they pack plenty of pacifiers? Was there ice cream always at the ready? Was the officer of the blanky on duty around the clock?
Trump says it’s all good.
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
I would love it if the Navy named a garbage scow after Trump.
Then they could use it for target practice: bomb it, burn, it and sink it.
Now, let’s be fair. Strictly speaking, all he really admitted was that the people he hired, who know him best, believe him to be a childish petty vengeful idiot with no concept of how to act like an adult when people are watching.
That’s … very slightly kind of sort of different.
I assume this is already another entry in Dan Drezner’s Twitter thread and upcoming book on Trump’s own people treating him like a toddler. It’s really amazing how many examples he’s collected.
I bet if they had a USS Robert E. Lee, they would make sure to have it in full view of Obama whenever he appeared as president. And his response would not have been that of a toddler.
Apparently, there used to be a USS Robert E Lee, as well as a USS Stonewall Jackson, USS Hunley, and USS Dixon, but all four are decommissioned. So there are no current Navy vessels named after Confederate generals, but that’s a relatively recent development. And there is still a USS Chancellorsville, named after a battle won by Lee. (Source.)