GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

Trump Whines About McCain and ‘World’s Longest Funeral’ in New Book

The former president said he “never warmed” to McCain, even before he “gave him the world’s longest funeral,” a belief of his that is as long-standing as it is factually incorrect.

Despite the fact that he died nearly five years ago, Sen. John McCain’s ears must be burning, because Donald Trump is still talking about him. The former president complains at length about McCain in his forthcoming coffee-table tome, Letters to Trump, with such loving plaudits as: “I never warmed to him, never felt good about anybody having anything to do with John McCain and never will.” According to the New York Post, Trump goes on to—incorrectly—assert that, despite his antipathy towards the onetime Republican presidential nominee, he granted him “the world’s longest funeral, 11 days. Much like his wars, it never ended.” (McCain was actually memorialized over only five days in Arizona, Maryland, and Washington.) Trump’s belief that McCain’s funeral services required his approval is as long-standing as it is factually inaccurate. Trump did not attend the 2018 funeral service, where former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush eulogized McCain. “No funeral at the Cathedral requires the approval of the president or any other government official,” a spokesperson for the National Cathedral said at the time, which didn’t stop Trump from griping that nobody ever thanked him for it.