Donald Trump at golf club as John McCain family honors late senator at National Cathedral
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Meghan McCain shows her father’s spirit in beautiful, poignant and scathing tribute to him, at times displaying the defiance that came to define him.
USA TODAY
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump went about his day like any other Saturday – tweets and time at his golf club in Virginia, as John McCain was honored at the National Cathedral.
Trump got into his motorcade and left the White House around 10:30 a.m., wearing a white short-sleeved shirt and white MAGA hat. At the same time, former president George W. Bush and Barack Obama along with many other notable Washington leaders attended memorial services for the late Arizona senator – to which Trump was not invited.
Trump arrived at Trump National Golf Club in Loudoun County, Virginia, amid a morning of tweets criticizing the Department of Justice and the FBI and threatening Canada.
“There is no political necessity to keep Canada in the new NAFTA deal. If we don’t make a fair deal for the U.S. after decades of abuse, Canada will be out,” Trump tweeted earlier Saturday.
However, Trump’s tweets made no mention of McCain, whose family took jabs at the president and his campaign motto during the services.
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The family of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., including from left, Andrew, Doug, second from left, Meghan, from front row left, Bridget, widow Cindy, Jimmy and Jack McCain, watch as the casket is carried down the steps of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Sept. 1, 2018, in Washington, for a departure to the Washington National Cathedral for a memorial service.
Sen. John McCain’s family, from left, Jimmy McCain, Meghan McCain, Jack McCain, Cindy McCain, Bridget McCain and Sidney McCain, stand together before a memorial service at the North Phoenix Baptist Church in Phoenix, Aug. 30, 2018.
In this image from Senate Television, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., pauses as he speaks on the Senate floor at the Capitol in Washington, on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018, next to the desk of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., draped in black with a bowl of white roses sitting on it. McCain died on Aug. 25, after battling brain cancer. Graham was McCain’s best friend in the Senate.
People are reflected as they look at the front page of the Arizona Republic featuring a picture of late Sen. John McCain at the Newseum in Washington, DC, on Aug. 27, 2018. He was a hero, a statesman who cut a towering figure in Washington. But for many in the increasingly angry world of American politics, John McCain will be missed for a far humbler virtue,simple civility. As Americans and others paid tribute to the late Republican senator, who died August 25, 2018 of cancer aged 81, some cited a 2008 interaction with a voter as symbolizing his famous insistence on fair and civil discourse.
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daughter Meghan McCain said.
“We gather here to mourn the passing of American greatness, the real thing, not cheap rhetoric from men who will never come near the sacrifice he gave so willingly, nor the opportunistic appropriation of those who lived lives of comfort and privilege while he suffered and served,” she said. “He was a great fire who burned bright. In the past few days my family and I have heard from so many of those Americans who stood in the warmth and light of his fire.”
Trump, who had an ongoing feud with McCain and his family, was not invited to any of the senator’s memorial services throughout the week. Vice President Mike Pence and Chief of Staff John Kelly, among others, attended the various services on behalf of the White House.
About a dozen protesters gathered on the road outside Trump’s golf club holding signs that read, “RIP McCain – a hero,” and “You, Trump, are no John McCain.” Some were flying yellow baby Trump balloons.
More: Meghan McCain says father’s ‘America was always great’ during speech at National Cathedral service
More: George W. Bush: McCain ‘was honest, no matter who it offended. Presidents were not spared’
More: John McCain memorial: Obama says McCain was ‘a warrior, a statesman, a patriot’
In an interview with Bloomberg News earlier this week, Trump defended his response to McCain’s death, saying “I’ve done everything that they requested.”
The president sparked controversy when he raised flags at half-staff above the White House just two days after McCain died. After public outcry, the flags were lowered again.
Trump also acknowledged his disagreements with McCain. “We had our disagreements and they were very strong disagreements,” the president told Bloomberg. “I disagreed with many of the things that I assume he believed in.”
Maybe the most infamous moment in the feud came during the 2016 presidential election when Trump attacked McCain’s war record.
“He’s a war hero because he was captured,” Trump said in July 2015. “I like people that weren’t captured, OK?”
Contributing: Doug Stanglin and Christal Hayes
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