The president non grata

Trump sits alone 'sulking' as Washington pays its respects to John McCain

Donald Trump’s absence – perhaps at the White House, maybe even on the golf course – will . . . underscore the antipathy between him and McCain, who made clear he did not want Trump at his funeral.

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Last Saturday, Trump gave a grudging response to McCain’s death. 

Past presidents, senators and various organisations unfurled lyrical tributes. 

Trump resorted to Twitter to offer his “deepest sympathies and respect” to McCain’s family. 

He added, complete with jarring exclamation mark: “Our hearts and prayers are with you!”

According to the Washington Post, which dubbed Trump “president non grata”, White House aides had written a statement that honoured McCain’s service as a prisoner of war in Vietnam and his long career on Capitol Hill and described him as a “hero” – only for Trump to veto it in favour of the 21-word tweet.

Then came a flag farce. 

The stars and stripes flew at half-mast at the White House, as is protocol, yet on Monday morning it was back at full mast, prompting widespread criticism – especially as flags remained lowered on other federal buildings. 

Gen Michael Hayden, former director of the CIA, tweeted a photo of the flag flying high above the executive mansion with the comment: “Remember this image the next time this president talks about disrespecting veterans.”

By afternoon the blunder had been corrected. 

Trump, who seldom backs down, issued a statement that began with a negative: “Despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John McCain’s service to our country and, in his honor, have signed a proclamation to fly the flag of the United States at half-staff until the day of his interment.”

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Trump acknowledged McCain in public remarks that night. 

But he will play no part in the senator’s lying in state in the US Capitol rotunda on Friday, where Vice-President Mike Pence will deliver remarks and present a wreath; nor at the national memorial service on Saturday where Bush, Obama and former secretary of state Henry Kissinger will be among those delivering tributes; nor at his burial at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis on Sunday, where Senator Lindsey Graham and Gen David Petraeus will speak.

Once again, Trump has defied the conventions of the capital and found himself an outcast.

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In April, there was a glaringly obvious, Trump-shaped hole at former first lady Barbara Bush’s funeral in Houston, where his wife Melania Trump was photographed alongside past presidents and first ladies, looking curiously happy.

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Along with the Bush funeral, Trump was not invited to the wedding of Prince Harry and American actor Meghan Markle.