--- title: President Trump Says He Didn't Order USS John McCain Hidden description: The White House ordered the USS John McCain, named for the late war hero, to be hidden from view during President Trump's Japan visit canonical: https://time.com/5597968/uss-john-mccain-donald-trump-japan/ author: Hillary Leung article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-05-30T03:32:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-12T23:16:36.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Says Whoever Ordered USS John McCain Hidden Was 'Well-Meaning' og:description: A tarp was draped over the ship to hide its name og:url: https://time.com/5597968/uss-john-mccain-donald-trump-japan/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf305db44f1d083f9/69894a8f4ee262a67b314906/john-mccain-ship.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5568 og:image:height: 3132 og:image:alt: US destroyer USS John S McCain collides with oil tanker og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Says Whoever Ordered USS John McCain Hidden Was 'Well-Meaning' twitter:description: A tarp was draped over the ship to hide its name twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf305db44f1d083f9/69894a8f4ee262a67b314906/john-mccain-ship.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Says Whoever Ordered USS John McCain Hidden During His Visit Was 'Well-Meaning' > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Hillary Leung](https://time.com/author/hillary-leung/) ## Hillary Leung Updated: Dec 12, 2023 11:16 PM UTCPublished: May 30, 2019 3:32 AM UTC  The USS John S McCain is seen off the eastern coast of Singapore on Aug. 21, 2017. The USS John S McCain is seen off the eastern coast of Singapore on Aug. 21, 2017. Desmond Foo—The Straits Times/EPA by [Hillary Leung](https://time.com/author/hillary-leung/) ## Hillary Leung Updated: Dec 12, 2023 11:16 PM UTCPublished: May 30, 2019 3:32 AM UTC President Donald Trump seemed to confirm reports that the White House asked the U.S. Navy to hide the _USS John S. McCain_ during Trump’s trip to military base in Japan earlier this week. The Wall Street _Journal_ reported Wednesday that an official told U.S. Navy and Air Force officials in an email that the “USS John McCain needs to be out of sight.” Abiding by the White House instructions, officials obscured the guided missiles destroyer’s name––which honors the late Sen. John McCain, as well as his father and grandfather––by covering it with a tarp before the President’s trip and later moving a barge closer to the watercraft to reduce its visibility, according to the _Journal._ Trump denied that he had made the order in remarks to reporters at the White House on Thursday morning. Trump referenced his long-running feud with the Arizona Republican, who died last August following a cancer battle, but said, “I wasn’t a fan but … I didn’t know a thing about it.” “I would never have done that,” Trump said. The President said that whoever had done so was probably “well-meaning.” Earlier Thursday morning, White House Deputy Communications Director Mercedes Schlapp dismissed the reports about the _John McCain_ as “fake news” on [_Fox & Friends_](https://www.mediaite.com/tv/white-house-spox-mercedes-schlapp-dismisses-uss-john-mccain-hiding-story-fake-news/)_._ The _Journal_ also reported that sailors working on the warship, who typically wear caps bearing its name, were asked to take the day off during Trump’s visit. U.S. officials denied that sailors on the _John McCain_ had been told to stay away, but said that many had departed for the long weekend. Trump tweeted earlier that he was “not informed” of the directive. The President has a history of insulting the 2008 GOP presidential nominee and war hero, who was among Trump’s most vocal critics on the right. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1133900762709463040) U.S. officials said that the tarp was placed on the ship for maintenance, but it was taken down for the visit. A spokesperson for U.S. 7th fleet said that the tarp had been removed before Trump’s Saturday morning visit, and that all ships were in “normal configuration.” The late senator, a [veteran of the Vietnam War](http://time.com/5260228/john-mccain-pow-history/), spent five and a half years as a POW after being captured by the North Vietnamese. As the son of a top Navy admiral, McCain was given the chance to be released early, but declined out of respect for the other prisoners who lacked the privilege. His daughter, political analyst Meghan McCain, called the President “a child” who feels threatened by McCain. > [](https://twitter.com/MeghanMcCain/status/1133892177183105024) Trump has [long clashed](http://time.com/4993304/john-mccain-donald-trump-feud-remarks/) with the veteran, having reiterated throughout the years that he is “not a war hero.” McCain had also on occasion called Trump out, having said that his “demeaning comments about women” and “boasts about sexual assaults” are reasons why he did not have his support. A month before his death, he called Trump’s remarks at a conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin “one of the most disgraceful performances by an American President in memory.” In an [official statement](http://time.com/5379630/trump-john-mccain-statement/) issued after McCain’s death, Trump said he respects the late senator’s service to the country “despite differences on policy and politics,” but did not attend his memorial service. He later [complained](http://time.com/5555353/donald-trump-john-mccain-funeral/) that he was not thanked despite giving McCain “the kind of funeral that he wanted.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5597968/uss-john-mccain-donald-trump-japan/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5597968/uss-john-mccain-donald-trump-japan/"},"headline":"President Trump Says Whoever Ordered USS John McCain Hidden During His Visit Was 'Well-Meaning'","datePublished":"2019-05-30T03:32:41.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-12T23:16:36.000Z","description":"A tarp was draped over the ship to hide its name","url":"https://time.com/5597968/uss-john-mccain-donald-trump-japan/","keywords":["White House","onetime","overnight","T100 2019 Pioneers"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf305db44f1d083f9/69894a8f4ee262a67b314906/john-mccain-ship.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Hillary Leung","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/hillary-leung/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf305db44f1d083f9/69894a8f4ee262a67b314906/john-mccain-ship.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US destroyer USS John S McCain collides with oil tanker","caption":"US destroyer USS John S McCain collides with oil tanker","creditText":"Desmond Foo—The Straits Times/EPA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5597968/uss-john-mccain-donald-trump-japan/","name":"President Trump Says Whoever Ordered USS John McCain Hidden During His Visit Was 'Well-Meaning'"}}]}] ```