Meghan McCain hits out at Trump over report White House wanted USS John S. McCain covered up

Meghan McCain said President Donald Trump makes her "grief unbearable" after a news report that the military covered up the USS John S. McCain while Trump was in Japan at the White House's request.

Trump has continued to speak ill of the late senator in his public remarks and on social media. The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday night that the White House wanted the warship named for McCain "out of sight" when the president is there.

Trump responded to the report, tweeting, “I was not informed about anything having to do with the Navy Ship USS John S. McCain during my recent visit to Japan. Nevertheless, @FLOTUS and I loved being with our great Military Men and Women — what a spectacular job they do!”

The U.S. Navy went to great lengths to shield Trump from seeing the ship. Officials told the Journal they first covered it with a tarp, then used a barge to block the name and gave the sailors on the ship the day off, the Journal reported.

"Trump is a child who will always be deeply threatened by the greatness of my dads incredible life," Meghan McCain tweeted. "There is a lot of criticism of how much I speak about my dad, but nine months since he passed, Trump won't let him RIP. So I have to stand up for him. It makes my grief unbearable."

Before John McCain's death in August 2018, the U.S. Navy added the senator's name to the ship, already named the USS John McCain after his father and grandfather, both admirals. The ship is stationed in Tokyo where it's being repaired after a fatal crash in 2017.

Trump began attacking McCain during the presidential campaign when he said McCain wasn't a war hero because he'd been captured. McCain was a prisoner of war in Vietnam for more than five years.

The president also blames McCain for voting against a Republican plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Trump often says the law would be gone if not for McCain, which isn't true.

McCain did not want Trump at his funeral, but his presence was felt in the eulogies past presidents and friends gave. But Meghan McCain offered the most direct rebuke of the current president, whose campaign slogan is "Make America Great Again."

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