White House wanted McCain warship ‘out of sight’ during President Trump’s Japan trip

The White House wanted the US Navy to keep a warship named for the late senator John Mccain out of President Donald Trump’s view during his trip to Japan, US officials said.

White House officials had asked for the warship USS John S McCain to be moved “out of sight” during US President Donald Trump’s visit to Japan last week, according to a news report that cited email exchanges about the extraordinary move.

The US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS John S Mccain is seen after a collision, in Singapore waters. (REUTERS/FILE)

Trump said on Thursday he wasn’t aware of such a move. “I wasn’t a fan,” he told reporters, referring to late senator John McCain. “I didn’t know a thing about it. I would never have done that... Somebody did it because they thought I didn’t like him. They were well-meaning, I will say.”

USS John S McCain is named after late senator McCain’s father and grandfather, and his name was added to it a month before he passed away in 2018.

The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the move, cited an email sent to US Navy and US Air Force by the Indo-Pacific Command official who said, referring to conversations with the White House, the “USS John McCain needs to be out of sight”.

Trump assailed special counsel Robert Mueller’s motives on Thursday, a day after Mueller rebuffed Trump’s claims that the Russia investigation had cleared him of committing a federal crime of obstruction of justice.

Trump told reporters, “Russia did not help me get elected. You know who got me elected? You know who got me elected? I got me elected. Russia didn’t help me at all.”

(With inputs from agencies)