The Navy confirms it received a request to move the USS John McCain out of Trump's sight in Japan

The U.S. Navy on Friday confirmed reports that White House officials requested the USS John McCain be obscured from view during President Trump's visit to Japan last week, CNN reports. The Wall Street Journal first reported the request on Wednesday, but the Navy did not address the situation immediately.

"A request was made to the U.S. Navy to minimize the visibility of USS John S. McCain, however, all ships remained in their normal configuration during the President's visit," Rear Admiral Charlie Brown, chief of Navy information, said in a statement. "There were also no intentional efforts to explicitly exclude Sailors assigned to USS John S. McCain."

Two Navy officials also told CNN that the request was impractical to begin with, as the ship was under repair.

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Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said on Friday that the military would not be politicized and he would not have directed the ship be moved.

Trump told reporters on Thursday that he had no knowledge of the request, but he believes the person who made it meant well. "But I would never do a thing like that," he said. Trump has held a longstanding grudge against former Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who died last August, which was exacerbated by the latter's vote against the GOP's efforts to repeal Obamacare in 2017.