Shanahan reached out to Cindy McCain

Navy ignored a directive to hide ship from Trump

WASHINGTON – The controversy over the hiding of the USS John McCain continued Monday when acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan told reporters traveling with him to Tokyo that he had spoken about the matter with Cindy McCain, the late senator’s widow.

Shanahan did not reveal details of the conversation.

Shanahan also confirmed that the White House’s military liaison office had emailed a directive to the 7th Fleet to hide the ship from Trump, but that

the Navy had ignored the directive. The ship is named after Sen. McCain’s father and grandfather, and Sen. McCain’s name was added in 2018.

“We don’t want to politicize the military,” he said.

“The directive was not carried out,” Shanahan said. “All ships remained in normal configuration during the visit. The USS John McCain was not moved. It remained in its original assigned berth. The name of the USS John McCain was not obscured. A paint barge was moved the day prior to the POTUS visit to support ongoing maintenance, and this is routine for ships undergoing maintenance while afloat. However, the paint barge did not obscure the view of the ship during the visit.”

Additionally, according to Shanahan, the ship’s crew had not been invited to Trump’s visit, but had not been excluded, as previously reported.

Shanahan told reporters he would not ask the Pentagon’s inspector general to conduct a review of the controversy.

The Wall Street Journal first reported that the White House had asked the Navy to keep the ship “out of sight” during Trump’s visit over Memorial Day weekend.

On Thursday, President Donald Trump weighed in on the controversy, saying he had not been involved but that he was sure that whoever attempted to shield the ship from his view was “well meaning.”