DEFENSE/JOHN MCCAIN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump thanked multiple members of Congress involved in passing the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act at a signing ceremony at Fort Drum, New York, Monday [8-13-18], with one major exception: the senator for whom the bill is named…Trump, who did not serve in the military himself, has previously attacked McCain’s record of service, saying the Vietnam veteran and former prisoner of war is ‘not a war hero’ because he was captured…Trump has since acknowledged that McCain is a hero, but refused to apologize in subsequent interviews. McCain has been one of the administration’s most outspoken Republican critics. The President hasn’t backed down on his attacks on McCain, who was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a rare brain cancer, over a year ago. Trump has referenced McCain several times on the campaign trail over the past months without directly naming him, hitting the Arizona senator for his health care vote.”
–Betsy Klein, “Trump signs McCain defense measure, doesn’t thank McCain,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, August 13, 2018 6:26 pm