Is There Any Person Alive More Petty Than Donald Trump?

Donald Trump visited a U.S. Naval base in Japan Wednesday and while we all know his skin is so thin it’s amazing it doesn’t crumble into dust with every light breeze, this was one of those instances that still manages to amaze with its seemingly impossible levels of insecure pettiness. Come and hear the mind-boggling story of the USS John McCain.

Prior to Trump’s arrival, the White House Military Office requested via email that during the visit, the USS John McCain be moved or somehow obscured. Moving it apparently wasn’t a practical option because the warship was under construction. But according to the Wall Street Journal, a tarp was hung over the ship’s name and its sailors were given the day off so as not to risk Trump seeing McCain’s name on their caps.

CNN says that Navy officials deny the tarp was covering McCain’s name during Trump’s visit (they said that photo was from earlier in the week) and the White House says Trump didn’t order the name be covered and that he wasn’t even aware of these conversations. But a White House official told the Washington Post that the plan was intended “to keep Trump from getting upset.” And whether or not that was Trump’s idea, those aides clearly knew what they were doing. Trump can’t even handle seeing the name of someone who once challenged him. Only ego-boosters are allowed at Trump events, like so:

Embed from Getty Images

Trump told reporters today that he “wouldn’t have done that” but that he “was very angry with John McCain because he killed healthcare.” He continued to trash the late Senator, saying “I was not a big fan of John McCain in any way, shape, or form. I think John McCain had a lot to getting (sic) President Bush–a lot to do with it, to go into the Middle East, which was a catastrophe. To me, John McCain, I wasn’t a fan.”

Look, I’m no John McCain fan either but that whole statement is just a wild ride of a mess. He reiterated that he didn’t have anything to do with the covering up of the ship, but said the person who did “was well-meaning” because they knew Trump’s feelings on McCain.

It was a big day overall for Trump saying he didn’t know about things that were being done to benefit him. He also went full Jan Brady talking about Russia, and how he didn’t have anything to do with Russia’s interference that got him elected—a thing that for years now, he’s been vehemently denying ever happened in the first place.

Anyway, since we know Trump can’t handle being challenged in any way whatsoever, there’s only one thing to do:

(image: Charly Triballeau – Pool/Getty Images)

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Vivian Kane

Vivian Kane (she/her) is the Senior News Editor at The Mary Sue, where she's been writing about politics and entertainment (and all the ways in which the two overlap) since the dark days of late 2016. Born in San Francisco and radicalized in Los Angeles, she now lives in Kansas City, Missouri, where she gets to put her MFA to use covering the local theatre scene. She is the co-owner of The Pitch, Kansas City’s alt news and culture magazine, alongside her husband, Brock Wilbur, with whom she also shares many cats.

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