The White House military office directed the US Navy’s Seventh Fleet to minimize the visibility of the USS John S McCain, a warship bearing the name of Trump’s former political rival, during a speech by the president in Japan last week. “Secretary (Patrick) Shanahan directed his chief of staff to speak with the White House military office and reaffirm his mandate that the Department of Defense will not be politicized,” Lieutenant Colonel Joe Buccino, a Pentagon spokesperson, said in a statement. The USS John S McCain controversy led acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan to ask his chief of staff to find out what happened. He said that his chief of staff did not have prior knowledge of the White House directive and reiterated that a search had not found any emails to his staff about it. The USS John S McCain was initially named after the late Senator McCain’s father and grandfather, who were both Navy admirals.

Source: The Express Tribune June 02, 2019 12:25 UTC