When Sen. John McCain died Saturday of brain cancer, President Donald Trump was expected to follow certain traditions to honor a fallen public servant. It didn’t come easily. The most glaring example was the flags: Typically, the death of a prominent sitting senator is followed followed by an effusive statement from the White House and a proclamation to lower flags around Washington, DC, to half-staff, including at the White House, until the date of interment. But the White House had already raised the flag to its normal height Monday morning. Then, after criticism, it lowered it back down to half-staff. Finally, at 4 p.m. on Monday, Trump issued a muted statement on McCain’s death and announced the lowering of the flag. “Despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John McCain’s service to our country and, in his honor, have signed a proclamation to fly the flag of the United States at half-staff until the day of his interment,” Trump said, adding that members of his administration, from Vice President Mike Pence to General John Kelly, would attend various memorial services for the senator. The proclamation came after nearly 48 hours of Trump refusing to address McCain’s career or legacy. Over the weekend, he reportedly rejected a proposal for an official White House statement in favor of a succinct tweet. My deepest sympathies and respect go out to the family of Senator John McCain. Our hearts and prayers are with you! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 26, 2018 On Monday, he refused to answer shouted questions on McCain’s legacy. He sat silent with his arms crossed. Pres Trump declined to answer questions at the end of the announcement. Was asked to reflect on the legacy of Sen. McCain, but declined. Sat silent and cross-armed as press pool herded out of the Oval Office. pic.twitter.com/Yzmqnxq14M — Mark Knoller (@markknoller) August 27, 2018 Even the eventual statement was terse, praising McCain only in a brief phrase while pointing out that he and Trump had their differences. McCain’s legacy — particularly as one of the biggest advocates of the Iraq War — is complicated and controversial. But Trump’s response to the senator’s passing is telling of a much more personal feud between the two men. Trump disparaged McCain’s service in the military early in his presidential campaign, and McCain did not shy away from denouncing Trump’s actions as president. In the final weeks before his death, McCain said that he didn’t want Trump at his funeral, where former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama will deliver eulogies. Trump doesn’t seem to be honoring McCain’s death McCain’s death was met with an outpouring of support from lawmakers and public figures from both sides of the aisle — even those who stood in stark opposition to his political positions and policies in the past decades. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has suggested renaming the Russell Senate Office Building after him. But the White House’s reaction to McCain’s death was noticeably muted. Trump reportedly refused to comment on McCain’s decision to stop brain cancer treatment and rejected the White House staff’s plans to issue a statement praising McCain’s legacy after he died, saying he preferred to send a tweet. The Washington Post’s Josh Dawsey reported: Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Chief of Staff John F. Kelly and other White House aides advocated for an official statement that gave the decorated Vietnam War POW plaudits for his military and Senate service and called him a “hero,” according to current and former White House aides, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal deliberations. The original statement was drafted before McCain died Saturday, and Sanders and others edited a final version this weekend that was ready for the president, the aides said. Trump’s tweet acknowledging McCain’s death did not address McCain’s legacy. And on Trump’s Instagram page, a post addressing the senator’s death featured a picture of Trump. While the flags at the nation’s monuments and Capitol building remained at half-staff, the one on top of the president’s residence was raised to full staff by Monday morning, days before McCain’s funeral. The flag was later lowered to half-staff — and by late afternoon the White House released a statement that Trump had signed a proclamation to keep them there until McCain’s burial. Fairly striking image -- all of the flags surrounding the Washington Monument are at half-staff, though the flag atop the White House was raised to full staff just after midnight. pic.twitter.com/BwKRbqKk0G — Alex Mallin (@alex_mallin) August 27, 2018 According to Fox News, flags are typically lowered for the passing of sitting senators from the day of death to the time they are buried. The US Flag Code says that flags are to be lowered “on the day of death and the following day for a Member of Congress.” During President Barack Obama’s administration, this procedure was followed after the deaths of three sitting senators, as well as Justice Antonin Scalia. Trump waited two days. Trump and McCain’s very bad relationship will continue past McCain’s death The White House’s seeming indifference to the death of a major figure in Trump’s own party is a clear continuation of a longstanding sour relationship between Trump and McCain. It began notably early in the presidential campaign cycle, when McCain said Trump had “fired up the crazies” in his home state of Arizona, and Trump said he didn’t consider McCain, a former Navy pilot who spent five and a half years in Vietnam as a prisoner of war, where he was tortured, a war hero. “He’s not a war hero,” Trump said in 2015. “He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.” Trump’s attacks on McCain during the presidential campaign were numerous. He’s said that he thinks “John McCain’s done very little for the veterans.<doc-sep>Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr. will brief the media on Tuesday, Aug. 28, at 10 a.m. EDT, in the Pentagon Briefing Room (2E973). DAILY SCHEDULE: Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr. brief the media at 10 a.m. EDT in the Pentagon Briefing Room (2E973). Both U.S. and foreign journalists without a Pentagon building pass must be pre-registered in the new Pentagon Visitor Management System to attend this briefing; plan on being escorted from the River Entrance Pedestrian Bridge or the Pentagon Metro Entrance Facility only. Please arrive no later than 45 minutes before the briefing; have proof of affiliation and photo identification. Please call 703-697-5131 for any questions and escort into the building. The briefing will also be streamed live on www.defense.gov/live. Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis hosts an enhanced honor cordon welcoming Minister of Defense Ryamizard Ryacudu of Indonesia, to the Pentagon at 2:30 p.m. EDT on the steps of the River Entrance. All journalists desiring to cover the cordon must obtain a wristband from security screening. Journalists without a Pentagon facility access card must go through security screening at the base of the River Entrance Pedestrian Bridge, and will be escorted to the cordon from there. Security screening will begin at approximately 1:45 p.m. EDT; have proof of affiliation and two forms of photo identification. Journalists with a Pentagon facility access card, and whom have entered the building prior to 1:30 p.m. EDT, may go through security screening at the River Entrance to obtain their wristband. All journalists wishing to cover the honor cordon, including those with a Pentagon facility access card, must be in place no later than 2:15 p.m. EDT. Once security screening has been initiated at the base of the bridge, all journalists entering the building via the bridge for any reason, including those with a Pen Obama on McCain: We are all in his debt McCain will be buried next to his 'wingman' WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 1: Cindy McCain looks on as a joint military service casket team carries the casket of the late Senator John McCain following his funeral service at the Washington National Cathedral, September 1, 2018 in Washington, DC. Former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush delivered eulogies for McCain in front of the 2,500 invited guests. McCain will be buried on Sunday at the U.S. Naval Academy Cemetery. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) (CNN) — Fed up with television coverage of Sen. John McCain’s death and eager to continue promoting his agenda, President Donald Trump remained silent for most of Monday about the Vietnam War veteran being honored by the rest of Washington. Late in the day, and after urging from senior aides, he relented, offering brief plaudits for the recently passed lawmaker in a statement after responding to questions earlier only with silence. “Despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John McCain’s service to our country,” Trump wrote in the four-paragraph statement, which dealt mainly in the logistical details he’d approved for the week-long remembrance ceremonies. Later, while meeting with evangelical leaders in the State Dining Room, Trump said in prepared remarks, “Our hearts and prayers are going to the family of Senator John McCain. There’s going to be a lot of activity over the next number of days. And we very much appreciate everything that Senator McCain has done for our country.” It was a more robust effort at commemorating the late lawmaker than Trump offered on Sunday and for most of Monday. During a string of appearances before reporters, the President maintained his silence, choosing to ignore questions about the late Arizona Republican. Trump was urged by senior level staffers, including chief of staff John Kelly, to deliver a more robust statement on McCain starting early Monday morning, but he resisted and maintained that he would not alter his planned schedule because of McCain’s death. Trump told some advisers he believed the television coverage of McCain’s death was over the top, according to one person familiar with internal deliberations. As the day proceeded, aides continued to press him to at least address the matter of the White House flags. After facing criticism for raising the flags to full staff after lowering them on Saturday, he relented on that issue, and released the statement detailing the logistical items he’d approved for McCain’s remembrance ceremonies. Press secretary Sarah Sanders was heavily involved in the discussions and helped develop the statement Trump released. Asked what had changed and why the proclamation was issued Monday, Sanders would only say it was the “President’s decision to do and the statement speaks for itself.” Trump also wrote in the statement that he asked Vice President Mike Pence to deliver remarks at a ceremony celebrating McCain’s life in the US Capitol on Friday. And he listed the officials – including Kelly, Defense Secretary James Mattis and national security adviser John Bolton – he had tasked with representing the administration at funeral services. Trump had come under harsh criticism for his apparent lack of compassion for the late senator. The national commander of the American Legion, a large veterans’ organization, wrote in a statement, “I strongly urge you to make an appropriate presidential proclamation noting Senator McCain’s death and legacy of service to our nation, and that our nation’s flag be half-staffed through his interment.” A spokesman for the American Legion said the organization heard from a White House staffer after Trump’s proclamation who thanked the veterans’ group for its pointed statement. “We were happy to see the White House move in the right direction,” American Legion spokesman Joe Plenzler said. “It’s symbolic. But it’s important.” A source close to the White House said other staffers had been privately hoping that Trump would change his mind about releasing a full, respectful statement honoring McCain along with the proclamation ordering flags to fly at half-staff.<doc-sep>President Donald Trump may not be among those paying their respects at Sen. John McCain's funeral, but his wife still could be President Donald Trump may not be among those paying their respects at Sen. John McCain‘s funeral, but his wife still could be. Responding to speculation about whether Melania Trump will attend the funeral without her husband, a White House spokesperson for the first lady tells PEOPLE, “We have made no announcements, so any reports you are seeing did not come from our office.” Get push notifications with news, features and more. In its morning news reports about Sen. McCain, CNN broadcasted a headline graphic saying that Mrs. Trump will not attend the funeral services. Questions about whether the first lady would be among the mourners honoring Sen. McCain started after The New York Times reported that initial plans indicated that “Vice President Mike Pence was to attend, but not President Trump,” who has publicly disparaged Sen. McCain on numerous occasions. “Our thoughts, prayers and deepest sympathy to the McCain Family,” Mrs. Trump, 48, tweeted after Sen. McCain died of brain cancer at the age of 81 on Saturday. “Thank you Senator McCain for your service to the nation.” In April, Mrs. Trump traveled to Houston for the funeral of former first lady Barbara Bush, which Mr. Trump did not attend. 700011968_js_4067_9e40c48c3f91c2177a87acf6ceaf19e6.jpg John McCain Sen. McCain “will be laid to rest at the U.S. Naval Academy Cemetery in Annapolis, Maryland,” according to his official website, which notes the funeral schedule will be announced at a later time. Before his death, Sen. McCain asked that former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush speak at his funeral, and Obama and Bush have already been requested to offer eulogies. Meanwhile, former Vice President Joe Biden will speak at an Arizona service in Sen. McCain’s honor. Sen. McCain will lie in state in the Arizona Capitol and Capitol Rotunda — only the 13th time a senator has done so, the Times reported. RELATED VIDEO: Senator John McCain Dies at Age 81 The burial location is expected to be near his classmate and lifelong friend, Chuck Larson, the Arizona Republic reported. In an emotional tweet, Sen. McCain’s wife Cindy McCain, 64, wrote on Saturday, “My heart is broken. I am so lucky to have lived the adventure of loving this incredible man for 38 years. He passed the way he lived, on his own terms, surrounded by the people he loved, in the place he loved best.” On Friday, his family announced that McCain, “with his usual strength of will,” decided to stop treatment for the stage-four brain cancer he had been battling since its diagnosis last summer.<doc-sep>WASHINGTON — There was no way President Donald Trump could sustain a fight for long with the American Legion over Old Glory and Sen. John McCain. He's hung his hat — politically and on policy — on being a champion for veterans. So while Trump could ignore the pleas of many Americans to honor the former prisoner of war, onetime Republican presidential nominee and 35-year veteran of Congress by ordering U.S. flags to fly at half-staff, he couldn't turn a deaf ear to the nation's most prominent veterans organizations. It wasn't just the American Legion, which called on him to reverse his decision to keep the flag at its full position about an hour before he reversed course. Joe Davis, national spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, told NBC News that the group made a similar request to the White House via email Monday morning. "We have not received a response back yet, but hope they are in agreement," he said in a phone interview just before Trump relented. As it turned out — after many hours — the president had found his way to their side. The pressure from the veterans groups had to make clear to Trump that it wasn't just a political loser for him to snub McCain but a threat to the brand he's tried to build by tying himself to America's passion for the military, its veterans and its flag. Trump can't afford to have the nation's veterans turn their backs on him the way he turned his back — or held his flag at full-staff — to spite McCain. He needs to avoid angering them, both to protect his veterans agenda in Washington and for his re-election hopes. McCain is not universally popular among veterans — and insulting McCain's service during the 2016 campaign didn't cost Trump the Republican nomination or the presidency — but turning the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars into enemies would have been politically toxic. Trump, who received educational and medical deferments from serving in the war that put McCain in a Vietnamese prison camp for five-and-a-half years, wants to throw himself a military parade in Washington in the midst of two wars that the U.S. has been engaged in for nearly two decades. He's benefited politically from the support he's pledged to the military and the nation's veterans community — including his work on a spate of bipartisan laws designed to improve conditions at veterans medical facilities — as well as from the fact that many current and former servicemembers agree with him on a wide range of other issues. His retreat in the face of pressure from veterans groups demonstrates that he understands there's a limit to how much he can insult a high-profile veteran without damaging his own standing. And while the pushback from the American Legion and VFW didn't rise to the level of harsh criticism — they simply asked him to honor McCain when he wasn't doing it — their willingness to take on a commander in chief obsessed with loyalty suggests that they have a certain influence with him that neither his critics nor most of his allies do. And in a show of just how urgent it was for Trump to reverse course, the flags at the White House were lowered back to half-staff — where they had stood on Sunday before being returned to the tops of their poles Monday morning — before he issued the official order to federal agencies to honor McCain. Trump doesn't like to back down from any fight. Yet he had no choice but to retreat when the leaders of millions of vets came knocking.<doc-sep>
(CNN) — Until 4 p.m. ET on Monday, here was the totality of President Donald Trump’s reaction to the death of Arizona Sen. John McCain over the weekend: “My deepest sympathies and respect go out to the family of Senator John McCain. Our hearts and prayers are with you!” That was a tweet Trump sent on Saturday night shortly after the news of McCain’s passing was made public. On Monday, during a series of events at the White House, Trump was asked on five occasions if he wanted to add anything to that tweet or say anything at all about McCain. He said nothing. Meanwhile, the flag over the White House, which had flown at half-staff since McCain’s death Saturday night, was returned to full-staff on Monday morning. After a day’s worth of incoming negative attention, the White House moved the flag back to half-staff and released an official statement on McCain’s death. Here’s how it started: “Despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John McCain’s service to our country and, in his honor, have signed a proclamation to fly the flag of the United States at half-staff until the day of his interment.” Despite our differences? The man is dead! He spent more than five years in a North Vietnamese prison camp! He served in elected office for almost four decades! (The rest of the four-paragraph statement dealt mostly with logistical details Trump had approved for the weeklong remembrance ceremonies, CNN’s Kevin Liptak reported). That the President of the United States – a man who famously/infamously said McCain was only a war hero because he had been captured – had to be led, kicking and screaming, to do the most basic honoring of someone who spent a lifetime in service of the country is appalling. There’s simply no other word for it. But Trump’s smallness highlights two important things to remember about him: 1) He NEVER takes the high road. Presidents prior to Trump believed the office to be, in part, about demonstrating moral leadership. Of course they had their own ambitions, hopes and desires but they at least made a bow to the idea that in being president, you have to put the “we” before the “me.” That the high road is the one you take even if it’s not nearly as satisfying in the short term. Because this isn’t about you – any president is simply renting the office, which ultimately belongs to the people and the country. Trump has given all sorts of examples that demonstrate he doesn’t believe in the moral leadership element of the presidency – from his reaction to the white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017 to his lack of grace in response to McCain’s death. 2) He doesn’t DO empathy for his enemies. I’m not convinced Trump does empathy even for his friends. But he definitely doesn’t do it for people who he considered his opponents. McCain and Trump had feuded in the past – the whole not-a-war-hero thing didn’t go over well, and McCain’s health care vote has been a common punching bag for Trump at rallies – and there’s no question the Arizona Republican was a frequent Trump critic who offered no olive branch by making clear he didn’t want Trump at his funeral. That said, McCain was not only a war hero but a leader within the Republican Party – don’t forget he was the GOP presidential nominee in 2008. To put aside personal enmity and grieve for the loss of someone who sacrificed so much for the country seems like such an easy thing to do. But not for Donald Trump. The Point: The death of a long-serving Republican senator and war hero should be an absolute slam dunk for a Republican president, politically speaking. Honor his service, mourn for his family and ask that people remember the sacrifice he made. Donald Trump did none of those things, turning what should be a celebration of a life well lived in service of the country into a grudging and belated acknowledgment of a man who gave so much. Read Monday’s full edition of The Point newsletter, and sign up to get future editions delivered to your inbox.