CIA/GOP/JOHN MCCAIN/NORTH KOREA/SENATE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Last fall, when President Donald Trump headed to Capitol Hill for the Senate Republican lunch, he was feuding with the powerful chair of the foreign relations panel and tweeted that the man couldn’t get elected dog catcher. On Tuesday [5-15-18], he dropped in on the weekly GOP lunch entangled in a controversy over an aide’s comment disparaging ailing GOP Sen. John McCain. At least one attendee said the McCain flap never came up, but several of the GOP leaders have said it’s past time for an apology from the White House. Trump’s Capitol Hill lunch Tuesday with Senate Republicans comes as the White House and its GOP allies are trying to coalesce around a political message ahead of the midterm elections. Also on the agenda is the White House push to get Senate approval on Trump’s nominee for CIA director, as well as Trump’s upcoming summit with North Korea. But much like when Trump was headed to the GOP Senate lunch to talk policy in October 2017, the White House agenda was eclipsed by another story…Sadler has apologized to the McCain family privately, but McCain’s daughter has asked for a public apology. The White House, which has appeared more focused on the fact the leak took place than its substance, has said it has dealt with the matter internally — but has refused to say how.”
-Lisa Mascaro and Anne Flaherty, “Apology overdue? McCain flap overshadows Trump’s GOP lunch,” The Associated Press, May 15, 2018 11:51 am