Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney Mick MulvaneyOn The Money: House panel pulls Powell into partisan battles | New York considers hiking taxes on the rich | Treasury: Trump's payroll tax deferral won't hurt Social Security Blockchain trade group names Mick Mulvaney to board Mick Mulvaney to start hedge fund MORE said Sunday that it wasn't "unreasonable" for an administration staffer to ask that the USS John S. McCain be hidden during President Trump Donald John TrumpBiden on Trump's refusal to commit to peaceful transfer of power: 'What country are we in?' Romney: 'Unthinkable and unacceptable' to not commit to peaceful transition of power Two Louisville police officers shot amid Breonna Taylor grand jury protests MORE's Japan visit last week.

Mulvaney said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that he believes it was a "probably somebody on the advance team" who told the Navy to hide the ship based on the president's feelings toward late Sen. John McCain John Sidney McCainThe Memo: Trump's strengths complicate election picture Mark Kelly: Arizona Senate race winner should be sworn in 'promptly' Cindy McCain: Trump allegedly calling war dead 'losers' was 'pretty much' last straw before Biden endorsement MORE (R-Ariz.).

"The president's feelings towards the former senator are well known," Mulvaney said, adding that firing someone over the request "is silly."

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"The fact that some 23- or 24-year-old person on the advance team went to that site and said, 'Oh my goodness. There's the John McCain. We all know how the president feels about the former senator. Maybe that's not the best backdrop. Can somebody look into moving it?' That's not an unreasonable thing to ask," Mulvaney said.

The Navy on Saturday confirmed receiving a request to "minimize visibility" of the USS John S. McCain, named for late senator's grandfather.

Trump said he did not know of the request but that whoever did it was "well-meaning."

Trump and the late senator clashed frequently, and the president has kept up his attacks after the Arizona Republican's death.