The Navy hid a giant, 8-month-old hole in USS Harry Truman with a big flag during Donald Trump’s Oct. 5 speech at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia.
An anonymous attendee of Trump’s hour-long ramble to active service members photographed how a massive Navy flag was used to obscure the damage to USS Truman from Trump—and photographers. Hours after the event, a picture of how the flag covered the damage to the Truman circulated on Reddit.
The USS Truman collided with a commercial vessel called the Besiktas-M off the coast of Egypt in February. At the time, the Navy described the damage as mostly cosmetic, and the vessel was able to conduct flight operations after the crash. There were no injuries as a result of the incident. The commanding officer of the vessel at the time, Capt. Dave Snowden, was fired.
The vessel continued its tour in the Red Sea until June, but it also lost three F/A-18 Super Hornet Fighter Jets on that trip, including one in a friendly fire incident.
A picture of the damage taken at the time shows that at some point between the crash and Trump’s speech, the Navy painted the damage to make it match the ship’s hull.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the Navy asking about the timetable to repair the ship and whether its damage was intentionally covered up for Trump’s speech.
Trump’s speech to the Navy was intended to be a redo of his disastrous, underwhelming military parade in June, when his much-hyped, $30 million show of military might—which also coincided with the president’s 79th birthday–drew sparse attendance.
The Navy put on a personalized show for Trump, firing missiles into the Atlantic Ocean and having Navy SEALs drop from helicopters.
After a 45-minute delay that left sailors standing in the sun, Trump launched into a typically wide-ranging speech in which he boasted about his physical fitness and notably failed attempt to get the Navy to boo a mention of Barack Obama. The service members are currently going without pay during the government shutdown.
The Navy has a history of gussying itself up so as not to offend President Trump. During his first term, the White House asked the Navy to hide USS John McCain to spare Trump from having to look at a boat named after his late political rival.
