Moments after the senator's office announced his death on Saturday, Aug. 25, Trump tweeted a statement about John McCain, sending his family his "deepest sympathies" and "respect." The tweet was relatively short, simply saying, "My deepest sympathies and respect go out to the family of Senator John McCain. Our hearts and prayers are with you!" In the past, the president and McCain have not been on the same page about a handful of topics and there's no doubt people are keeping tabs on how Trump responds to the sad news.
Just a day prior to McCain's death, his family released a statement announcing the politician would be discontinuing his medical treatment for brain cancer.
Last summer, Senator John McCain shared with Americans the news our family already knew: he had been diagnosed with an aggressive glioblastoma, and the prognosis was serious. In the year since, John has surpassed expectations for his survival. But the progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age render their verdict. With his usual strength of will, he has now chosen to discontinue medical treatment. Our family is immensely grateful for the support and kindness of all his caregivers over the last year, and for the continuing outpouring of concern and affection from John’s many friends and associates, and the many thousands of people who are keeping him in their prayers. God bless and thank you all.
The next day, his office confirmed that he had passed. "Senator John Sidney McCain III died at 4:28 p.m. on August 25, 2018," the statement said. "With the Senator when he passed were his wife Cindy and their family. At his death, he had served the United States of America faithfully for sixty years."
Though Trump recognized McCain's death by sending prayers to the senator's loved ones, the two politicians did not see eye-to-eye. One of Trump's particularly harsh quotes about McCain might stand out in your memory. Speaking in Iowa back in July 2015, Business Insider reported, the then-presidential candidate claimed McCain wasn't a war hero, even though he had been captured in Vietnam and spent five years being tortured as a prisoner.
He's not a war hero. He's a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured ... Perhaps he's a war hero, but right now, he's said bad things about a lot of people.
Trump's cutting words didn't stop after McCain was diagnosed with brain cancer. Still, the senator continued to stand up for his beliefs, especially when it came to policies he felt weren't representative of America. For example, McCain vehemently disapproved of Trump's zero-tolerance policy that led to the separation of thousands of families crossing the border. "The administration's current family separation policy is an affront to the decency of the American people, and contrary to principles and values upon which our nation was founded," McCain wrote in tweet in June.
According to The New York Times, Trump was not invited to McCain's funeral as of May. Whether or not the president will attempt to make amends with the senator's family before the funeral proceeds is anyone's guess.
