Up & Coming Weekly

June 11, 2019

Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.

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WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM JUNE 12-18, 2019 UCW 11 e Trump administration order that the Navy ship named for the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., be hidden from Trump's view during a presiden- tial visit to Japan provoked the Pen- tagon to tell the White House to stop politicizing the military. A Defense De- partment official said Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan is also considering sending out formal guid- ance to military units to avoid similar situations in the future. Shanahan's spokesman, Lt. Col. Joseph Buccino, confirmed a Navy email that said the White House mili- tary office wanted the USS John Mc- Cain kept "out of sight" when Trump visited Japan two weeks ago. Buccino was the public information officer for the 82nd Airborne Division until recently. is comes on the heels of a week of scrambling and story-chang- ing by the White House about the ship and the president. When e Wall Street Journal first reported the requested move, Trump took to Twitter to say this: "I was not informed about anything having to do with the Navy Ship USS John S. Mc- Cain during my recent visit to Japan." But then, later in the week, Trump said this: "I was not a big fan of John McCain in any shape or form. Now, somebody did it because they thought I didn't like him, okay? And they were well-meaning." When the internal Navy email came to light, it triggered a storm of outrage. Shanahan told reporters he is not planning to seek an investigation by the inspector general into the matter "because there was nothing carried out" by the Navy. He added that he still needs to gather more information about exactly what happened and what service members did. "How did the people receiving the in- formation … treat it?" Shanahan asked. "at would give me an understanding on the next steps" to take. Shanahan also said he spoke with McCain's wife, Cindy, about the incident a day or two later, but he declined to provide any details. e order to keep the Navy guided- missile destroyer out of sight appeared to be an extraordinary White House effort to avoid offending the presi- dent. e McCain incident dogged Shanahan throughout a weeklong trip to Asia, even as he tried to deal with critical national security issues involv- ing the eroding U.S. relationship with China and the continuing threat from North Korea. Shanahan, who has been serving in an acting capacity since the first of the year, has yet to be formally nominated by Trump as permanent defense chief. His speech to a major national security conference in Singapore was a chance to audition for the job on the international stage. A formal nomina- tion has been expected, and members of Congress have said they believe there will be a hearing on his nomina- tion in the next month or so. Accord- ing to Department of Defense spokes- man Buccino, Shanahan told his chief of staff to speak with the White House military office "and reaffirm his man- date that the department of defense will not be politicized." Buccino said the chief of staff reported back that he delivered the message. Stop politicizing the military by JEFF THOMPSON NEWS A Navy email said the White House military office wanted the USS John McCain kept "out of sight" when Trump visited Japan two weeks ago. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. died Aug. 25, 2018. "Cumberland County's Community Newspaper" *Some restrictions and limitations may apply. Subject to credit approval and credit history. It's About YOU. Visit www.BraggMutual.org to learn more. HELP ME Big Enough to KNOW ME Small Enough to Become a member today - it's easy!

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