Navy confirms request was made to ‘minimize the visibility’ of USS John S. McCain during Trump’s visit to Japan

The U.S. Navy on Saturday confirmed that it received a request to “minimize the visibility” of the USS John S. McCain warship while President Trump was visiting Japan last month — an episode that has raised concerns about whether the commander in chief’s political grievances might be infecting military culture.

Rear Adm. Charlie Brown, the Navy’s chief of information, said in a statement that a “request was made to the U.S. Navy to minimize the visibility of USS John S. McCain, however, all ships remained in their normal configuration during the President’s visit.”

He added that there were “no intentional efforts to explicitly exclude Sailors assigned to USS John S. McCain,” and that the Navy was “fully cooperating” with a review of the situation ordered by acting defense secretary Patrick Shanahan.

View the complete June 1 article by Matt Zapotosky on The Washington Post website here.