WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump will travel to Fort Drum today to sign a bill authorizing military funding that honors U.S. Sen. John McCain, a GOP rival the president has openly mocked and criticized.

Trump plans to make public remarks in a Fort Drum hangar when he signs the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act. The $716 billion bill will increase pay for service members and boost spending on military equipment and weapons in fiscal 2019.

White House observers will be watching to see if Trump pays tribute to McCain, 81, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee who has been battling brain cancer.

Trump ignited a feud with McCain in 2015 during the presidential campaign when he said the Arizona senator was not a war hero. McCain, a former Navy fighter pilot, was held for almost six years as a prisoner of war after his jet was shot down in the former North Vietnam.

McCain later dropped his support for Trump during the presidential election. In July 2017, McCain cast the deciding vote to defeat a Republican bill that would have repealed parts of the Affordable Care Act.

Vice President Mike Pence, who has maintained a better relationship with McCain, will join Trump at Fort Drum for the ceremony this afternoon.

Syracuse.com will have a team of journalists providing live coverage of Trump's visit to Fort Drum and a stop later in the afternoon at a fundraiser for Rep. Claudia Tenney in Utica. Check back for updates throughout the day.

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