WASHINGTON (AP / NEWS 8) - Glowering in public and near-silent for two days, President Donald Trump relented under pressure Monday by tersely recognizing Sen. John McCain's "service to our country" and re-lowering the White House flag.
The same issue was the subject of debate in Coronado.
Senator John McCain always had a connection with Coronado, and not just because of its long military history. McCain spent some his childhood on the island and owned property with his wife.
When the U.S. flag in front of Coronado's City Hall was not lowered until Monday afternoon and not immediately over the weekend, some called it shameful.
While many businesses and residents around the island lowered the flags to half-staff out of respect, some questioned why Coronado's City Hall waited until Monday afternoon. Coronado City officials, who immediately lowered Coronado's municipal flag over the weekend, said they followed the U.S. flag code which states that only the president or governor may order the U.S. flag at half-staff on public or government buildings to honor a national or state figure.
Some believe the "flag flap" is much ado about nothing.
While much of the nation remembered McCain's record as a war hero, longtime senator and presidential nominee over the weekend, Trump had nursed his grievances. McCain had been an infuriating foil in a long-running feud over style and policy that did not end with the senator's illness and death.
Trump's reluctance to participate in the national remembrance was awkward and uncomfortable, even by the standards of a leader who acknowledges he doesn't act like a typical president. The episode highlighted the outsider president's impulse to harbor personal resentments regardless of political repercussions.
Back in 2015, McCain had gotten under then-candidate Trump's skin by saying he had "fired up the crazies" at a rally in Phoenix. Trump later told a crowd in Iowa that McCain was only a war hero "because he was captured. I like people who weren't captured."
McCain said Trump owed veterans an apology for that, but he continued to back the celebrity businessman as the Republican nominee. He later withdrew his support after the release of the infamous "Access Hollywood" tape in which Trump bragged about groping women.
After Trump took office, McCain established himself as a leading critic, opposing Trump's immigration-limiting order, warning him against coziness with Moscow and lecturing him on the illegality of torture.
Friction increased earlier this year after word surfaced that a West Wing aide had been dismissive of McCain during a closed-door meeting. The aide told colleagues they should disregard McCain's opposition to Trump's CIA nominee because "he's dying anyway."
In death, McCain attempted a last word in his farewell letter.
"Do not despair of our present difficulties," he wrote. "But believe always in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here."