Shanahan tells White House office not to politicize the military

He also said he spoke with McCain’s wife, Cindy, a few days ago, but declined to provide any details.The order to keep the Navy destroyer out of sight reflected what appeared to be an extraordinary White House effort to avoid offending an unpredictable president known for holding a grudge, including a particularly bitter one against McCain.Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney on Sunday defended the request during the president’s visit, arguing it was not “unreasonable.”Appearing on “Meet the Press," Mulvaney said “it was probably someone on the advance team” in the White House who was responsible, adding that the unidentified staffer who requested to hide the ship would not be fired."The fact that some 23, 24-year-old person on the advance team went to that site and said, 'Oh my goodness, here's the John McCain, we all know how the president feels about the former senator, maybe that's not the best backdrop, can somebody look into moving it?' That's not an unreasonable thing," Mulvaney said."The president's feeling towards the former senator are well known," he said.