In a wide-ranging interview Thursday, President Donald Trump defended his controversial handling of Sen. John McCain's death.

Trump, speaking with Bloomberg News on the day McCain's life was honored at a memorial service in Phoenix, said he believed he had "done everything" he could for the Arizona Republican.

Trump was heavily criticized earlier this week for a number of decisions and remarks surrounding McCain's death, most notably his handling of the raising of the White House flags that had been set at half staff to honor the late senator. After raising the flags only two days after McCain died, the flags were lowered again after public outcry.

Additionally, over the weekend, Trump only offered a brief and impersonal statement on McCain's passing on Twitter and reportedly had to be pressured to make additional remarks.

When asked whether the president missed a chance to unite a mourning country, Trump defended himself.

"No, I don’t think I did at all," he told Bloomberg. "I’ve done everything that they requested and no, I don’t think I have at all."

More: White House flags return to half-staff to honor Sen. John McCain after outcry

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Still, he acknowledged his rocky relationship with the respected senator, which included McCain criticizing Trump's rhetoric during the 2016 presidential campaign and came to a climax when McCain voted down the Trump administration's attempt at repealing Obamacare.

"We had our disagreements and they were very strong disagreements," the president said. "I disagreed with many of the things that I assume he believed in."

Their quarrels continued even after McCain revealed he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer last year.

Asked by Bloomberg whether McCain would have made a better president than Barack Obama, who McCain lost to in 2008, the president wouldn't say.

"I don’t want to comment on it," he said. "I have a very strong opinion, all right."

Bloomberg noted White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders was staring at Trump during his response.

He joked Sanders was "having a nervous breakdown" over the exchange.

During the president's interview with Bloomberg, he spoke about a variety of subjects, including tariffs, China and trade. He also threatened to upend the rules of global trade, saying he would pull out of the World Trade Organization unless it adopts rules more favorable to the United States.</s>Washington (CNN) Washington luminaries, former presidents and the family of John McCain gathered Saturday at Washington National Cathedral to honor and remember the late senator in a grand display of pomp and unity in the nation's capital.

Amid praise for the life and legacy of McCain were frequent lamentations of Washington's current political climate. The man implicitly referenced in those criticisms, President Donald Trump, was asked not to attend at the late senator's request and instead visited one of his golf courses in Sterling, Virginia. He also tweeted on several occasions about unrelated topics, including trade negotiations with Canada.

Among the tributes -- including from former McCain rivals and Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama -- was an emotional remembrance from McCain's daughter Meghan that included several pointed and unmistakable references to Trump.

"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," McCain said in her remarks, during which she often struggled to fight back tears.

"The America of John McCain has no need to be made great again, because America was always great," she said at one point to sustained applause inside the cathedral.

Drawing a further contrast between her father and the current President, McCain said, "We live in an era where we knock down old American heroes for all their imperfections when no leader wants to admit to fault or failure. You were an exception and gave us an ideal to strive for."

Bush, Obama remember formal rival

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Bush remembered McCain in his remarks as "above all, a man with a code," saying that "he lived by a set of public virtues that brought strength and purpose to his life and to his country."

The former President said that the late senator "was courageous" and "honest, no matter whom it offended," adding that even "presidents were not spared."

"Those in political power were not exempt. At various points throughout his long career, John confronted policies and practices that he believed were unworthy of his country. To the face of those in authority, John McCain would insist: We are better than this. America is better than this," Bush said.

Obama said when McCain asked him to speak at the memorial service, he felt a mixture of "sadness" and "a certain surprise." The request "captured some of John's essential qualities," including his "ability to see past differences in search of common ground," Obama said.

The former President acknowledged the contrast between himself and McCain, saying, "We were standard-bearers of different American political traditions." But Obama spoke of a deep respect for the late senator. "For all our differences, for all the times we sparred, I never tried to hide, and I think John came to understand, the longstanding admiration that I had for him."

Obama also opened up about his behind-the-scenes relationship McCain and the bond they shared across party lines.

"We didn't advertise it, but every so often over the course of my presidency, John would come over to the White House and we would just sit and talk in the Oval Office, just the two of us," Obama said, saying they discussed policy, family and politics.

"Our disagreements didn't go away during these private conversations," he said. "But we enjoyed the time we shared away from the bright lights." Obama added, "When all was said and done, we were on the same team."

Display of unity

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The remarks from former Democratic and Republican presidents who were once rivals to McCain sent a message of unity and bipartisanship at a time when Washington is deeply divided.

Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said at the service that "the world will be lonelier without John McCain," but that, "even in his parting, John has bestowed on us a much-needed moment of unity."

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman, a Democrat-turned-Independent, recalled his friendship with McCain and spoke at length about how McCain had wanted to name him as a running mate during his 2008 presidential campaign.

Lieberman recalled questioning whether it could work. "When he first talked to me about it, I said, 'You know John, I'm really honored, but I don't see how you can do it,'" he said, remembering a conversation he had with McCain.

He said that the late senator responded with some impatience, saying: "That's the point Joe ... You're a Democrat, I'm a Republican, we could give our country the bipartisan leadership it needs for a change."

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who was McCain's running mate in the 2008 presidential election was not invited to any of the memorial services.

Notable attendees

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Other Washington leaders and longtime friends of McCain attended the service.

Democratic former Vice President Joe Biden, who delivered an emotional eulogy for McCain at a memorial service in Arizona on Thursday, served as a pallbearer on Saturday.

Actor Warren Beatty, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, former Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin and former chief of staff to McCain Mark Salter also served as pallbearers, among others.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a close friend of McCain's, and McCain's children Jimmy and Sidney McCain all took part in readings during the ceremony.

The President's daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner both attended the ceremony. Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, tweeted later in the afternoon that he and his son attended the ceremony, which he described as a "beautiful service." Giuliani called McCain "a generous friend as well as a hero and patriot."

Former Democratic President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were also present.

In a poignant moment, as McCain's casket departed the cathedral, Roberta McCain, the late senator's 106-year-old mother, sat alone in a wheelchair at the top of the stairs, looking down and wiping away tears. Eventually, a uniformed military officer joined her and brought her back inside the cathedral when the hearse left.

Week of memorials

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The service followed a public procession that brought McCain's body from the US Capitol to the cathedral. The motorcade stopped along the way at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, where Cindy McCain, the late senator's wife, laid a wreath in memory of those who served in the Vietnam War.

Cindy McCain tweeted on Saturday, "Today we lost our hero, our friend, our mentor, our father, our grandfather and our husband. Together we mourn and together we go on."

Today we lost our hero, our friend, our mentor, our father, our grandfather and our husband. Together we mourn and together we go on. pic.twitter.com/KZZ53fgGza — Cindy McCain (@cindymccain) September 1, 2018

McCain, who died at the age of 81 last Saturday after a lengthy battle with brain cancer, was an iconic figure in US politics. The Arizona Republican leaves behind a storied legacy of serving his country in Congress and in the military as a naval pilot.

The service at Washington National Cathedral is one of several events honoring McCain's life this week.</s>WASHINGTON: John McCain is getting a presidential farewell, but not from the actual sitting president.

At McCain's request, former Presidents Barack Obama, a Democrat, and George W. Bush, a Republican, are speaking about the six-term senator on Saturday at Washington National Cathedral. It is the last event in Washington, where McCain lived and worked over four decades, and part of McCain's five-day, cross-country funeral procession. He died Aug. 25 at age 81.

President Donald Trump was told to stay away, but he won't be far. The president is expected to remain in Washington this weekend.

McCain's procession will come within a mile of the White House as it travels between the U.S. Capitol, where the casket was lying in state overnight, to the cathedral. It will pass the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, where McCain's wife, Cindy, is expected to lay a wreath. McCain is a decorated veteran who was held for more than five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. He refused early release.

Trump obtained deferments for his college education and a foot ailment.

The memorial stop will provide another contrast with Trump in McCain's carefully designed funeral procession. But the speeches by the former presidents are expected to carry special weight.

McCain has long urged the Senate and the polarized nation to recognize the humanity even in bitter political opponents. McCain's request for speeches by the former presidents, to some, represents that ideal.

"We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries that have sown resentment and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe," McCain wrote in his farewell letter to the nation, read posthumously by a longtime aide. "We weaken it when we hide behind walls, rather than tear them down, when we doubt the power of our ideals, rather than trust them to be the great force for change they have always been."

By all accounts, McCain ended up liking both Bush and Obama but was not especially close to either man.

ALSO READ | John McCain's final journey to Washington: Senator to lie in US Capitol

"John McCain and I were members of different generations, came from completely different backgrounds, and competed at the highest level of politics," Obama said in a statement after McCain's death. "But we shared, for all our differences, a fidelity to something higher — the ideals for which generations of Americans and immigrants alike have fought, marched, and sacrificed."

Bush delivered McCain a decisive defeat in the race for the GOP presidential nomination in 2000. Obama defeated McCain eight years later in the general election.

After his death, Bush called McCain "a man of deep conviction and a patriot of the highest order. He was a public servant in the finest traditions of our country. And to me, he was a friend whom I'll deeply miss."

McCain's service and dedication to working across the aisle — even as he sometimes infuriated his opponents — was a major theme of Friday's ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda.

Of those who spoke at Friday's ceremony, fellow Republican Mitch McConnell had perhaps the fullest sense of the McCain experience. The two had served in the Senate together since McCain's 1986 election.

"Depending on the issue, you knew John would either be your staunchest ally or your most stubborn opponent," McConnell recalled. "At any moment, he might be preparing an eloquent reflection on human liberty — or a devastating joke, served up with his signature cackle and that John McCain glint in his eye."

ALSO READ | Donald Trump honors John McCain's service to country, re-lowers white-house flag after criticism

But just about anyone who worked in the Capitol over the past 35 years could attest to McCain's iron will and what House Speaker Paul Ryan called his "distinct brand of candor."

"With John, it was never feigned disagreement. The man didn't feign anything," Ryan said. "He just relished the fight."

"This," Ryan added of McCain, "is one of the bravest souls our nation has ever produced."

McCain is to be buried Sunday at his alma mater, the U.S. Naval Academy, next to his best friend from the Class of 1958, Adm. Chuck Larson.

"Back," McCain wrote on the last page of his recent memoir, "where it began."</s>WASHINGTON — Friends, family and former presidents will gather at Washington National Cathedral on Saturday to honor the life of the late Sen. John McCain.

The ceremony will feature tributes from Republican former President George W. Bush, who prevailed over McCain in the race for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000, and Democratic former President Barack Obama, who ran against McCain in the 2008 presidential election and won.

The remarks from former Democratic and Republican presidents who were once rivals to McCain will send an unmistakable message of unity and bipartisanship at a time when Washington is deeply divided.

McCain, who died at the age of 81 last Saturday after a lengthy battle with brain cancer, was an iconic figure in US politics. The Arizona Republican leaves behind a storied legacy of serving his country in Congress and in the military as a naval pilot.

Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, former Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Meghan McCain, one of the late senator’s daughters, are also on the list of those slated to speak at Saturday’s memorial service.

Democratic former Vice President Joe Biden, who delivered an emotional eulogy for McCain at a memorial service in Arizona on Thursday, will serve as a pallbearer on Saturday.

Actor Warren Beatty, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, former Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin and former chief of staff to McCain Mark Salter will also serve as pallbearers, among others.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a close friend of McCain’s, and McCain’s children Jimmy and Sidney McCain will take part in the ceremony as well.

While two former presidents will speak in honor of McCain, the current President will be notably absent.

CNN has previously reported that McCain did not want President Donald Trump to attend his funeral and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who was McCain’s running mate in the 2008 presidential election, was not invited to any of the memorial services.

Saturday’s service is scheduled to start at 10 am ET.

The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, the Episcopal bishop of Washington, will deliver a blessing during the service.

The service at Washington National Cathedral is one of several events honoring McCain’s life this week.

On Thursday, a memorial service was held in Phoenix and on Friday, a ceremony was held in the US Capitol, where McCain’s body was lying in state. On Sunday, a private service will take place at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and then his body will be laid to rest in the US Naval Academy Cemetery.</s>The Latest: Former presidents, family pay tribute to McCain

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. (all times local):

Former President Barack Obama has paid tribute to his one-time political rival, delivering a eulogy for the late Arizona Sen. John McCain at Washington National Cathedral.

Obama said: "We come to celebrate an extraordinary man, a warrior, a statesman, a patriot who embodied so much that is best in America."

Obama spoke after former President George W. Bush, another former McCain opponent. Obama said of McCain, "He made us better presidents."

The former president noted McCain was a conservative lawmaker, but said "he did understand that some principles transcend politics, that some values transcend party."

Obama praised McCain for opposing "bending the truth to suit political expediency or party orthodoxy" and as a proponent of a "free and independent press."

Former President George W. Bush has hailed John McCain's "combination of courage and decency" in a eulogy that touched on the state of the nation's politics under President Donald Trump.

Bush, who defeated McCain in the 2000 Republican primary, says McCain "detested the abuse of power."

He adds that, "To the face of those in authority, John McCain would insist that we are better than this, America is better than this."

Bush says the Arizona senator's absence is tangible, "like the silence after a mighty roar." Noting McCain's time as a prisoner of war, Bush says McCain "loved freedom with the passion of a man who knew its absence."

Former President Barack Obama, who ran against McCain in 2008, is eulogizing McCain next. McCain's family did not invite Trump.

President Donald Trump is spending time at his Virginia golf course while the nation's political elite are gathered at Sen. John McCain's memorial service.

Trump arrived at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling shortly after 11 a.m. Saturday. He sent out a series of tweets throughout the morning, but did not mention McCain.

The president, who had long feuded with McCain, was not invited to the service at Washington National Cathedral.

Key members of Trump's administration were in attendance, including his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner.

Meghan McCain eulogized her father's death as "the passing of American greatness," directing her message squarely at President Donald Trump and encouraging others to live up to her father's example.

Her tearful, impassioned tribute opened the memorial service for John McCain at Washington National Cathedral. It set a tone echoing her father's own passion.

She said they "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 to applause, "The America of John McCain has no need to be made great again because America was always great."

Among the current and foreign leaders and officials on the guest list for John McCain's memorial service are about a dozen from former Soviet states, particularly Ukraine and Georgia.

Both countries have high regard for the late Arizona senator who supported their efforts in recent years to stand up to Russian aggression.

On the list provided by funeral organizers are the current president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko (por-oh-SHEHN'-koh), and the former president of Georgia, Mikhail Saakashvili (sah-kahsh-VIH'-leh).

The list also includes current and former leaders from the three Baltic states — former Soviet republics that are now members of NATO.

As one of his pallbearers McCain chose a Russian opposition figure, Vladimir Kara-Murza, who like McCain is a sharp critic of the Kremlin.

Kara-Murza has been poisoned twice in recent years, and he's expressed his gratitude to McCain for calling attention to his case.

President Donald Trump is tweeting out a series of long-standing grievances as an elite political crowd gathers for Sen. John McCain's memorial service.

Trump wasn't invited to the service at Washington National Cathedral, where former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama will be among those paying tribute.

From the White House, Trump has been tweeting complaints about the news media, Canada and the Justice Department. Many of Trump's tweets included quotes, possibly from the news coverage he had been watching.

Just before McCain's service was set to start, Trump tweeted about the "Fake Dossier, attributing a quote to Dan Bongino, who frequently appears on Fox News.

The president's daughter, Ivanka Trump, and her husband Jared Kushner, both senior White House aides, are in attendance at the cathedral, as are a number of members of the administration.

Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump are among the guests at John McCain's memorial service at the Washington National Cathedral.

The daughter and son-in-law of President Donald Trump are among the highest-ranking White House officials attending the service. McCain's family has made it clear that the president, who routinely criticized the Arizona senator and his military record, wasn't invited to this or other services this week.

Kushner and Ivanka Trump could be seen greeting other guests inside the cathedral, including McCain's close friend, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham.

Graham has called Trump's handling of the events around McCain's death "disturbing."

The administration had lowered the American flag at the White House to half-staff upon McCain's death Saturday, but then raised it by Monday. After public outcry, the White House flags were again lowered.

John McCain's casket has arrived at Washington National Cathedral for a memorial service where two former presidents — George W. Bush and Barack Obama — are among the scheduled speakers.

Saturday's service is the last event in Washington for the late Arizona senator. He'll be buried Sunday at his alma mater, the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

McCain who died of brain cancer on Aug. 25 at age 81.

John McCain's procession has made a stop at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the way to his service at Washington National Cathedral, and his wife, Cindy, has placed a wreath on the memorial.

She was accompanied by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and John Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general who's President Donald Trump's chief of staff.

John McCain was a decorated veteran who was held for more than five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. He refused early release.

At the cathedral, two former presidents, a pre-eminent diplomat and a former Senate colleague are among the speakers on the schedule.

Saturday's service is the last for McCain in Washington. He'll be buried Sunday at his alma mater, the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

Mourners are arriving at Washington National Cathedral for a memorial service for the late Sen. John McCain.

The invitation-only crowd began lining up to enter more than two hours before the formal funeral for the six-term senator, and began taking their seats under the building's soaring arches and stained glass windows.

Music played as the crowd filed in.

McCain asked former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush to speak at the service to highlight the bridge-building that McCain espoused.

Obama and Bush defeated McCain's bids for the nation's highest office.

Saturday's service is the last for McCain in Washington. He'll be buried Sunday at his alma mater, the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

John McCain's procession has left the U.S. Capitol and is making its way to Washington National Cathedral, where former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama are among the speakers who will pay tribute to the late Arizona senator.

McCain's casket had remained overnight in the Capitol rotunda, where thousands of mourners had filed past on the day before to say goodbye as McCain lay in state.

McCain's procession will come near the White House as it travels from the Capitol to the cathedral. It will pass the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, where McCain's wife, Cindy, plans to lay a wreath.

McCain is a decorated veteran who was held for more than five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

It's an interesting list of pallbearers who are set to serve at John McCain's memorial service at Washington National Cathedral.

It includes actor Warren Beatty and a Russian dissident, Vladimir Kara-Murza. There's also former Vice President Joe Biden, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, FedEx founder Fred Smith and billionaire investor Ronald Perelman.

Several current and former senators also are on tap as pallbearers for the Arizona Republican who died of brain cancer on Aug. 25 at age 81.

Two former presidents, a pre-eminent diplomat and a former Senate colleague are among the speakers on the schedule for Saturday's memorial service for John McCain at Washington National Cathedral.

Tributes to the late Republican senator from Arizona will come from ex-Presidents Barack Obama, a Democrat who defeated McCain in the 2008 White House race, and George W. Bush, who won the 2000 GOP nomination over McCain.

Also on the speakers' list are former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman and daughter Meghan McCain.

McCain died of brain cancer on Aug. 25 at age 81.

John McCain is set to receive a final presidential farewell, but just not from the current president.

At the late senator's request, former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush will be among the speakers a service Saturday at Washington National Cathedral.

President Donald Trump was told to stay away from all events during McCain's five-day, cross-country funeral procession.

Before McCain's procession arrives at the cathedral, it will pass the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, where McCain's wife, Cindy, is expected to lay a wreath. McCain was a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

The Arizona senator is to be buried Sunday in a private ceremony at his alma mater, the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

He died of brain cancer on Aug. 25 at age 81.</s>Meghan McCain and President Barack Obama took apparent swipes at President Trump on Saturday in a eulogy for John McCain — who sparred with Trump on a number of occasions before his death last week of brain cancer.

“The America of John McCain has no need to be made great again because America was always great,’ McCain’s daughter said, in what appeared to be a reference to Trump’s presidential campaign slogan: “Make America Great Again.”

The remarks were made during a funeral service at Washington National Cathedral for the Arizona Republican, who died last week of brain cancer.

Obama’s jabs were more subtle but still appeared to be directed at the current occupant of the White House. He derided those in politics who traffic in “bombast and insult and phony controversies and manufactured outrage.”

He also attacked “a politics that pretends to be brave and tough but in fact is born of fear.”

“John called on us to be bigger than that. He called on us to be better than that,” he said.

It was Meghan McCain who had the most searing swipes at the president however. Notably she said that her father’s passing represented 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.”

Former President George W. Bush also paid tribute to McCain.

“John – as he was the first to tell you – was not a perfect man. But he dedicated his life to national ideals that are as perfect as men and women have yet conceived,” he said. “He was motivated by a vision of America carried ever forward, ever upward, on the strength of its principles.”

The funeral service notably did not feature President Trump, who had feuded with McCain, particularly during the presidential campaign. In 2015, after McCain had said Trump’s platform had “fired up the crazies,” Trump had mocked McCain’s imprisonment in the Vietnam War, saying: “I like people that weren’t captured.” Trump has also fumed about McCain’s vote last year to kill off a bill to reform ObamaCare.

Both Trump’s daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner were in attendance.

A six-term senator and a Vietnam veteran who was held as a prisoner of war for more than five years, McCain pushed for bipartisanship on the Hill. He ran against Bush for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000. He clinched the nomination in 2008 but was defeated in the presidential election by Obama.

Other notable speakers included former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman. McCain’s pallbearers included actor Warren Beatty and Russian dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza, as well as former Vice President Joe Biden and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Earlier Saturday, his casket traveled to the cathedral after stopping at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, where McCain’s wife Cindy laid a wreath. Defense Secretary James Mattis and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly accompanied her.

On Friday colleagues, family and friends paid tribute to his service both in the military and the Congress as he lay in state underneath the Capitol rotunda.

JOHN MCCAIN HONORED AT US CAPITOL, LAWMAKERS PAY TRIBUTE TO ‘GENERATIONAL LEADER’

With members of McCain’s family in attendance, Vice President Mike Pence said Americans “marveled at the iron will of John McCain” and praised him for holding fast “to his faith in America through six decades of service.”

“Generations of Americans will continue to marvel at the man who lies before us, the cocky, handsome naval aviator who barely scraped through school, and then fought for freedom in the skies; who witnessed to our highest values, even through terrible torture; and who became a generational leader in the United States Senate, where our nation airs its great debates,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said.

Tributes have poured in from both sides of the aisle for the Republican senator and 2008 presidential nominee. On Thursday, former Vice President Joe Biden remembered McCain as a brother, and said the two were “cockeyed optimists” in a memorial service for McCain at a church in Phoenix.

Biden, a Democrat, declared that McCain’s “legacy is going to continue to inspire generations.”

McCain is to be buried Sunday at his alma mater, the U.S. Naval Academy, next to his best friend from the Class of 1958, Adm. Chuck Larson.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.</s>WASHINGTON — Sen. John McCain’s funeral Saturday had the feel and gravity of the memorial for a head of state as three former presidents and a who’s who of Washington and the world gathered at the National Cathedral for his service.

McCain's hearse arrived at the cathedral shortly before 9:30 as bells tolled for the centerpiece of the three-day event where speakers honored his life as war hero, prisoner, lion of the Senate and exemplar of values of duty to his country.

Former President Barack Obama, who defeated McCain for the presidency in 2008, called the opportunity to remember him a "precious and singular honor."

“We come to celebrate an extraordinary man, a warrior, a statesman, a patriot, who embodied so much that is best in America,” Obama said.

McCain's daughter Meghan also eulogized him, noting his breeding as son and grandson of admirals, accomplishments across the world and tenderness as a father despite his tribulations. She also took aim at President Trump with whom her father had frequent feuds.

“My father had every reason to think the world was an awful place…my father had every reason to think the world was worth leaving," she said. "He did not think those things.”

She also fiercely spoke on behalf of his legacy.

“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."

She took a direct jab at Trump and his campaign motto without repeating it.

“The America of John McCain has no need to be made great again, because America was always great,” she said.

Former President George W. Bush, who also prevailed against McCain in a campaign for the presidential nomination, noted the effect of McCain's mere presence.

“Wherever John passed throughout the world people immediately knew there was a leader in their midst,” he said.

Among the early arrivals at the cathedral was McCain’s mother, 106-year-old Roberta McCain, who arrived in a wheelchair. Ivanka Trump, President Donald Trump's daughter, and her husband, presidential adviser Jared Kushner, were surprise guests as the president himself was not invited. Former Presidents Bush, Obama, and Bill Clinton joined the roster of the most senior former and current officials. Former Vice Presidents Joe Biden, Dick Cheney and Al Gore were also present.

McCain's widow, Cindy, greeted each of the former presidents.

Bush was McCain's rival in the 2000 presidential race. The senator withdrew after losing a series of primaries to Bush on Super Tuesday. McCain later supported his former adversary.

As the GOP nominee in 2008, McCain lost to Obama. In McCain's concession speech at the Arizona Biltmore, he graciously spoke of the significance of Obama's win, as the first African-American to hold the presidency.

Other notables included Republican congressional leaders, House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, including Adm. John Richardson, chatted with senators. Also attending were former Secretary of State John Kerry, a Senate colleague of McCain's and also a Vietnam War veteran, and former Defense Secretaries Ash Carter, Leon Panetta and William Cohen.

Former congresswoman Gabby Giffords, the Democrat from Arizona who was badly wounded in a shooting, was in the crowd along with her husband, Mark Kelly, the astronaut and retired Navy captain. Comedian Jay Leno also took a seat near Kerry as organ music played.

The guest list featured a host of foreign dignitaries, including Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela, and the current and former secretaries general of NATO. Expected attendees also included representatives from Canada, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Germany and Taiwan.

McCain had been an outspoken advocate of Ukraine and regularly assailed Russia for its annexation of Crimea and fomenting dissent there. As well, McCain was a champion of NATO, in contrast with Trump who has regularly bashed it.

During the service, McCain's son Jimmy read the poem "The Requiem."

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn. and 2000 vice presidential candidate, and close friend, recalled McCain's love of laughter and acceptance of religious and cultural differences. Henry Kissinger, the secretary of State in the Nixon and Ford administrations, said McCain believed in American military strength but also its compassion and engagement in the world.

"To John, American values had universal applicability," Kissinger said.

Before the service, McCain's family gathered in front of the U.S. Capitol as military service members carried McCain's casket down the steps to a waiting hearse. The motorcade carrying the senator's body from the U.S. Capitol departed the Capitol shortly after 8:40 a.m.

The vehicles passed in front of the White House. President Donald Trump, who pointedly was not invited to any of the events in the three days honoring McCain, had feuded frequently with the senator.

At the White House, as McCain was honored at the National Cathedral, President Donald Trump went about his day like any other Saturday. He had no public events on his schedule. He began the day with a series of tweets criticizing the Department of Justice and the FBI.

Then, during McCain’s service, shortly after 10:30 a.m., Trump's motorcade left the White House and arrived at Trump National Golf Club in Loundon County, Va. He was wearing a white short-sleeved shirt and white Make America Great Again hat.

He soon fired off another tweet, 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.”

Earlier en route to the cathedral, McCain's hearse paused at the war memorial, where Cindy McCain, joined by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, laid a ceremonial wreath honoring those who died during the Vietnam War.

Meghan McCain sobbed and leaned on her sister Bridget. A ribbon wrapped the wreath bearing the words, In Memory of All Who Served.

Veterans, families and signs of support filled the area around the iconic black wall at the memorial site. Some embraced and held back tears while others just passed through on a Saturday morning run. McCain, a Navy pilot, was held prisoner in North Vietnam for more than five years.

Shirley Whiteaker of Knoxville said she came to Washington after she heard news of McCain's death to show support for his wife Cindy McCain and her family.

"They have done so much for this country," she said of the entire McCain family.

McCain died Aug. 25 of brain cancer. He was 81.

The invitation-only national memorial service celebrating the senator's life began about 10 a.m. Military service members carried his flag-draped casket into the Episcopal church that has hosted three presidential funerals.

On Sunday, McCain will be buried in the cemetery at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Services will be private.</s>WASHINGTON - Former US presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush will lead mourners on Saturday in a service for the late John McCain, the longtime Arizona senator and Vietnam war hero whose bids for the White House were dashed by the two men.

On the way to Washington’s National Cathedral, the cortege of one of America’s most famous prisoners of war will stop at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial where his wife, Cindy McCain, will lay a wreath to honour those who died in the war.

Obama and Bush, a Democrat and a Republican, will be joined by a collection of former US presidents, senators, Vietnam-era officials and others paying tribute to the statesman who died 25 August of brain cancer, days shy of his 82nd birthday.

Conspicuously absent will be President Donald Trump, who over the past three years engaged in a public feud with McCain, a fellow Republican.

McCain’s family had made clear that Trump was not welcome at memorial services in Arizona and Washington or at Sunday’s private burial service in Annapolis, Maryland, at the US Naval Academy. McCain was a member of the Academy’s Class of 1958.

In Congress, where he laid in state on Friday, McCain was a leading voice for revamping the country’s immigration, campaign finance and environmental laws. But it was his military service, punctuated by years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam, that moulded McCain’s political life.

McCain, who rose to the rank of captain in the U.S. Navy, was shot down over Hanoi while on a bombing mission in 1967.

Held as a prisoner until 1973, McCain was tortured by his North Vietnamese captors in a jail that Americans dubbed the “Hanoi Hilton.”

Lying in state in the US Capitol since Friday morning, McCain was commemorated by politicians of all stripes and mourners who filed past his flag-draped coffin into the night.

On Saturday, a motorcade will take McCain’s casket past the capital’s stately monuments en route to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, where Cindy McCain will place a wreath at the black, V-shaped granite wall inscribed with the names of more than 58,000 US soldiers killed in combat.

At the time of his death, McCain was chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, where he was known as a tough overseer of the country’s military.

This summer, with McCain too ill to travel to Washington, Congress hurried to pass the “John S. McCain National Defence Authorization Act” that will carry out a huge military buildup by allowing $716 billion to be spent in the coming year alone.

Inside the cathedral, which took 83 years to build and is the sixth largest in the world, the congregants will hear from a central figure of the Vietnam War: 95-year-old Henry Kissinger.

Kissinger was an adviser to then-president Richard Nixon and played a role in planning the controversial U.S. bombing of Cambodia and negotiating an end to US military action in Vietnam.

Pallbearers for Saturday’s service reflect the eclectic political company McCain kept, which helped him earn the reputation of a maverick willing to work with the other side of the aisle.

They include Hollywood actor and liberal political activist Warren Beatty, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an independent, liberal former Senator Russ Feingold who crafted landmark campaign finance legislation with McCain, and former Senator Gary Hart, a Democrat who like McCain ran unsuccessfully for president.</s>Former Democratic president Barack Obama denounced the current state of U.S. politics as “mean and petty” at a memorial service Saturday for longtime Senator John McCain in Washington's National Cathedral, who died a week ago after a long battle with brain cancer.

“Isn’t that the spirit we celebrate this week, that striving to be better, to do better, to be worthy of the great inheritance that our founders bestowed?” Obama asked as he delivered a eulogy for his friend and occasional political opponent.

“So much of our politics, our public life, our public discourse can seem small and mean and petty, trafficking in bombast and insult and phony controversies and manufactured outrage,” Obama said.

Without mentioning President Donald Trump by name, Obama added, “It’s a politics that pretends to be brave and tough, but in fact, is born in fear. John called on us to be bigger than that. He called on us to be better than that.”

In his eulogy for his fellow Republican, former president George W. Bush said McCain “was honorable, always recognizing that his opponents were still patriots and human beings.”

But as Bush continued, he, too, rejected the status quo of Washington politics, which he said is contrary to McCain’s personal beliefs.

“He respected the dignity inherent in every life, a dignity that does not stop at borders and cannot be erased by dictators,” Bush said. “Perhaps above all, John detested the abuse of power.”

Bush and Obama were invited to remember their friend at the service, which McCain planned himself as he battled his brain cancer.

Bush and Obama were among hundreds of family, friends, former congressional colleagues and staff members who gathered at the cathedral before McCain’s flag-draped coffin. They were invited to the service, which McCain planned as he battled brain cancer.

 

 Dozens of current and former U.S. officials, members of Congress and foreign dignitaries were also in attendance.

McCain’s daughter, Meghan, also paid tribute to her father with a veiled reference to Trump and his ‘make America great again’ mantra.

“America does not boast because she does not need to. The America of John McCain has no need to be made great again because America was always great,” she said to applause.

"We live in an era where we knock down old American heroes for all their imperfections when no leader wants to admit to fault or failure,” Meghan said and added her father was “an exception and you gave us an ideal to strive for.”

McCain's body laid in state in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda Friday into Saturday morning after a ceremony honoring McCain. It was attended by McCain's wife, Cindy, his seven children and his 106-year-old mother, along with hundreds of members of Congress.

At the Capitol, McCain's coffin rested on a wooden platform known as a catafalque, which was first used in 1865 to support the casket of assassinated president Abraham Lincoln.

The cortege Saturday from the Capitol to National Cathedral paused at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, where the late senator’s wife, Cindy McCain, laid a wreath to honor those who died in the war.

In addition to Obama and Bush, among those who delivered tributes and readings Saturday, were Senator Lindsey Graham, former secretary of state Henry Kissinger, who advised then-president Richard Nixon on Vietnam, and other McCain family members.

McCain's pallbearers included actor Warren Beatty, former vice president Joe Biden, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Russian dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza.

McCain said in a farewell letter to the country, "We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries that have sown resentment and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe." He added, "We weaken it when we hide behind walls, rather than tear them down, when we doubt the power of our ideals, rather than trust them to be the great force for change they have always been."

Trump has not been invited to any of the ceremonies for McCain, a decision viewed by many as a rebuke of Trump. A bitter feud between Trump and the two- time presidential hopeful took root during Trump's 2016 campaign, when he mocked McCain for getting captured during the Vietnam War. "He's not a war hero," Trump said. "He's a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured."

Trump received military deferments from service during the Vietnam War for his college education and bone spurs in his heels.

McCain will be buried Sunday at his college alma mater, the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

Biden on Thursday described his old friend as a man who lived by an ageless code of honor, courage and duty.

"Character is destiny, John had character," Biden said at a funeral service for McCain in the Arizona capital of Phoenix.

 

 McCain died last Saturday at the age of 81.</s>- It's Washington's turn to say goodbye to John McCain . His way.

The six-term Republican senator, who lived and worked in the nation's capital over four decades, is lying in state under the U.S. Capitol rotunda for a ceremony and public visitation.

McCain's casket arrived at the Capitol Friday as his family watched from the steps. Family, friends, lawmakers and guests gathered in the vast Rotunda for a memorial service. Congressional leaders were to deliver remarks.

It's the first of two days of services in Washington honoring the Arizona senator, who served in Congress for 35 years.

On Saturday, McCain's procession will pause by the Vietnam Memorial and head for Washington National Cathedral for a formal funeral service. At McCain's request, two former presidents - Democrat Barack Obama and Republican George W. Bush - will speak.

President Donald Trump, who has mocked McCain for being captured during the Vietnam War, was asked to stay away, people close to the White House and the McCain family said.

McCain's funeral puts him back in the spotlight a few miles from Trump's doorstep, in the city where the senator, who died last Saturday at 81, worked and collected friends and enemies, some in both camps at different times. The procession was highlighting what McCain found important, some of which contrast with Trump's style and priorities.

Vice President Mike Pence was speaking at the Capitol ceremony Friday, and other officials will represent the administration in Trump's hard-to-miss absence. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis greeted the McCain family Thursday night when the senator's casket was flown into Joint Base Andrews, Maryland.

McCain chose a Russian dissident as a pallbearer, though Trump has professed repeatedly his affinity and admiration for Russian President, Vladimir Putin - praise that came amid special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

The procession's pause at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, where McCain's widow, Cindy, is expected to lay a wreath, will highlight McCain's military service and his more than five years as a prisoner of war.

Trump obtained deferments during the Vietnam War for his college education and then for bone spurs in his heels. Trump on Friday was expected to leave Washington in early afternoon, to head to North Carolina for an event on retirement security about the same time the public will start filing past McCain's casket.

The McCain farewell began Wednesday and Thursday in Arizona, where he and Cindy McCain raised their family. Former Vice President Joe Biden and others provided a preview of the tributes to come.

None of the speakers at the North Phoenix Baptist Church on Thursday uttered Trump's name. But Biden, who is considering challenging Trump in 2020, made what some saw as a veiled reference to the president. He talked about McCain's character and how he parted company with those who "lacked the basic values of decency and respect, knowing this project is bigger than yourself."

Biden said McCain "could not stand the abuse of power wherever he saw it, in whatever form, in whatever country."

Longtime McCain friend Tommy Espinoza told the 3,500 mourners that "We all make America great," a similar phrase to Trump's campaign slogan, "Make America Great Again."

Much of the proceedings were lighthearted, noting McCain's penchant for battle.

Biden advised McCain's friends and family to remember snapshots of him, such as a glance or a touch. "Or when you saw the pure joy the moment he was about to take the stage on the Senate floor and start a fight. God, he loved it."

McCain's longtime chief of staff, Grant Woods, a former Arizona attorney general, drew laughs with a eulogy in which he talked about McCain's "terribly bad driving" and his sense of humor, which included calling the Leisure World retirement community "Seizure World." When McCain and Woods arrived at the community to apologize, Woods said, they saw a resident near the entrance making an obscene gesture at them.

The service brought to a close two days of mourning for the U.S. senator and 2008 GOP presidential nominee in his home state.

At the end of the nearly 90-minute ceremony, McCain's casket was wheeled out of the church to "My Way," in tribute to a politician known for following his own path.

Trump and his wife, Melania, danced to the same song at the new president's inauguration in 2017.

Associated Press writers Matthew Daly in Washington and Anita Snow, Jacques Billeaud and Terry Tang in Phoenix contributed to this report.
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Dignitaries gather at the memorial service for U.S. Senator John McCain at the Washington National Cathedral, at which former U.S. Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama are among those who eulogize McCain.