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| John McCain and Trump’s Narcissism: A Clash at Sea | John McCain and Trump’s Narcissism: A Clash at Sea |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| For the White House staff, a United States Navy destroyer and its crew command less respect than the president’s fragile ego. | For the White House staff, a United States Navy destroyer and its crew command less respect than the president’s fragile ego. |
| During his trip to Japan this week, President Trump was given a tour of the Yokosuka Naval Base. In preparation for his visit on Tuesday, the White House had requested that the Navy hide the U.S.S. John S. McCain, a destroyer bearing the name of the senator and Trump nemesis who died last August. Sailors aboard the ship were given the day off and, unlike colleagues from other vessels, pointedly not invited to attend Mr. Trump’s speech aboard another warship. Sailors from the McCain who showed up anyway, with the ship’s name on their uniforms or caps, were turned away. | |
| When news of the effort became public, Mr. Trump responded — first on Twitter and later to reporters — that he’d had nothing to do with the decision. He probably didn’t. He nonetheless acknowledged his enduring dislike of Mr. McCain and praised whoever had been responsible for the ship kerfuffle as “well-meaning.” | When news of the effort became public, Mr. Trump responded — first on Twitter and later to reporters — that he’d had nothing to do with the decision. He probably didn’t. He nonetheless acknowledged his enduring dislike of Mr. McCain and praised whoever had been responsible for the ship kerfuffle as “well-meaning.” |
| Mr. Trump seems to think that blaming an overzealous aide for the incident makes things better and absolves him of any responsibility. | |
| In reality, it makes things worse. It seems we have reached a point where the president of the United States is considered such a snowflake by his own staff that they tripped over themselves to avoid having him even see the name of someone he didn’t like — a Navy hero tortured in a North Vietnamese prison while the future president’s bone spurs kept him out of the service — that was inconveniently emblazoned on a destroyer within his line of sight. | In reality, it makes things worse. It seems we have reached a point where the president of the United States is considered such a snowflake by his own staff that they tripped over themselves to avoid having him even see the name of someone he didn’t like — a Navy hero tortured in a North Vietnamese prison while the future president’s bone spurs kept him out of the service — that was inconveniently emblazoned on a destroyer within his line of sight. |
| It’s no secret that Mr. Trump’s ego is fragile. Early in his tenure, he was so upset that his inaugural crowd had been smaller than Barack Obama’s that he had his press secretary lie about it and prompted the park service to edit photos to make his crowd look larger. Similarly, unable to cope with having lost the popular vote, the president formed an “election integrity” commission to try to prove that the election had been riddled with fraud on behalf of Hillary Clinton. It found none and was dissolved. | It’s no secret that Mr. Trump’s ego is fragile. Early in his tenure, he was so upset that his inaugural crowd had been smaller than Barack Obama’s that he had his press secretary lie about it and prompted the park service to edit photos to make his crowd look larger. Similarly, unable to cope with having lost the popular vote, the president formed an “election integrity” commission to try to prove that the election had been riddled with fraud on behalf of Hillary Clinton. It found none and was dissolved. |
| Two years on, the situation has become more absurd. Staff members have so internalized their boss’s vanities and petty grudges that they scurry to avoid anything that might offend his sense of self. The McCain episode may sound largely harmless, even if it showed further politicization of the military. This was, after all, the same event at which some service members were photographed wearing patches with an image of the president surrounded by the words “Make Aircrew Great Again” — a play on Mr. Trump’s MAGA campaign slogan. So it may be too much to expect anyone in this administration to think twice about such niceties. | Two years on, the situation has become more absurd. Staff members have so internalized their boss’s vanities and petty grudges that they scurry to avoid anything that might offend his sense of self. The McCain episode may sound largely harmless, even if it showed further politicization of the military. This was, after all, the same event at which some service members were photographed wearing patches with an image of the president surrounded by the words “Make Aircrew Great Again” — a play on Mr. Trump’s MAGA campaign slogan. So it may be too much to expect anyone in this administration to think twice about such niceties. |
| But other instances of the president’s fragility are deadly serious. In late April, it came to light that the White House chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, had warned Kirstjen Nielsen, then the homeland security secretary, against raising the issue of Russia’s attempts to interfere in American elections in front of the president. Ms. Nielsen was desperate to get the White House to show leadership and focus public attention on this critical threat. But Mr. Mulvaney told her that the entire issue was tangled up in Mr. Trump’s brain with questions about the legitimacy of his 2016 victory. | But other instances of the president’s fragility are deadly serious. In late April, it came to light that the White House chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, had warned Kirstjen Nielsen, then the homeland security secretary, against raising the issue of Russia’s attempts to interfere in American elections in front of the president. Ms. Nielsen was desperate to get the White House to show leadership and focus public attention on this critical threat. But Mr. Mulvaney told her that the entire issue was tangled up in Mr. Trump’s brain with questions about the legitimacy of his 2016 victory. |
| And so the integrity of the American electoral system is being neglected because White House aides don’t want to risk hurting Mr. Trump’s feelings. Who knows what other important issues are being similarly compromised? One has to wonder whether, somewhere in the White House computer system, there is a running list of topics that cannot be broached, lest they trigger the volatile Mr. Trump. | And so the integrity of the American electoral system is being neglected because White House aides don’t want to risk hurting Mr. Trump’s feelings. Who knows what other important issues are being similarly compromised? One has to wonder whether, somewhere in the White House computer system, there is a running list of topics that cannot be broached, lest they trigger the volatile Mr. Trump. |
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