US Navy refused to keep USS John S. McCain out of Trump's sight

“A request was made to the US Navy to minimize the visibility of USS John S. McCain, however, all ships remained in their normal configuration during the President’s visit," reads a statement from Rear Adm. Charlie Brown, Chief of Navy Information the Pentagon released Saturday.

There were “no intentional efforts to explicitly exclude Sailors assigned to USS John S. McCain,” the statement adds.

The news was first reported by The Wall Street Journal which said the White House had requested the Navy to move the warship out of Trump’s view prior to his visit.

“USS John McCain needs to be out of sight,” the outlet cited as saying a May 15 email from a US Indo-Pacific Command official to US Navy and Air Force officials.

According to the Journal, a tarp was hung over the ship’s name ahead of the visit, and sailors were instructed to remove any coverings from the ship with its name on it.

At a rally in March, Trump said he "endorsed him at his request, gave him the kind of funeral he wanted...but I didn’t get a thank you.”

“I never liked him much,” Trump said. “I really probably never will.”

The ship was named after McCain's father and grandfather, who were both decorated admirals. The Navy had added the name of Sen. McCain, a prisoner of war in Vietnam, who was viewed as a war hero, to the ship in 2018.