JOHN MCCAIN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump on Thursday [8-30-18] defended his response to the death of Sen. John McCain in an interview with Bloomberg News. Trump told Bloomberg, ‘No, I don’t think I did at all,’ when asked if he missed a chance to unite the country and whether he had made a mistake. Trump had faced criticism for failing to issue a laudatory statement about McCain after his death and waffling over whether to keep flags at half-staff days after McCain died…The Arizona Republican died on Saturday [8-25-18] at the age of 81 after battling brain cancer. Following McCain’s passing, Trump tweeted that his ‘deepest sympathies and respect go out to the family of Senator John McCain,’ in a brief message that did not directly praise McCain or his service to the country. It wasn’t until Monday [8-27-18] that Trump issued a longer statement on the late senator saying that he respected McCain’s service. After midnight on Sunday [6-26-18] evening, the flag above the White House was raised back to full staff after having been at half-staff since Saturday night to mark McCain’s death. Images of the White House flag at full-staff while other flags on the National Mall continued to fly at half-staff were circulated Monday morning, a scene critics called a stark visual representation of Trump’s antipathy toward McCain.”
–Clare Foran, “Bloomberg: Trump says he didn’t miss a chance to unite the country after McCain’s death,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, August 30, 2018 9:24 pm