President Donald Trump continued a series of criticisms against the late Sen. John McCain when he complained about not getting a thank you for the senator's funeral. White House Trump says he never got a thank you for McCain's funeral

President Donald Trump on Wednesday went after the late Sen. John McCain once again, saying that he “gave him the kind of funeral that he wanted,” but “didn’t get a thank you.”

Speaking in front of a crowd at a tank plant in Lima, Ohio, the president continued the attacks on McCain that he began over the weekend. Trump said he was responsible for authorizing the state funeral services for McCain, who died of cancer in August, but got no gratitude.


“I gave him the kind of funeral that he wanted – which, as president, I had to approve,” Trump said. “I don't care about this, but I didn't get a thank you. That is OK. We sent him on the way, but I wasn’t a fan of John McCain.”

“I have to be honest, I’ve never liked him much,” Trump also said of the former senator in extended vent session that received a cool reception in the room. “Hasn't been for me.”

Trump and McCain clashed repeatedly after the former launched his presidential campaign, but their feud peaked in 2017 when the senator sunk GOP efforts to repeal Obamacare with a dramatic thumbs-down vote.

Trump was not invited to McCain's funeral last year, and the American flag atop the White House was initially raised to full-staff in the wake of the senator's death — and was returned to half-staff in McCain's honor only after the move garnered criticism from both sides of the aisle.

Since Saturday, the president has publicly railed against McCain for tanking the Obamacare repeal and for passing along to the FBI an explosive and largely unverified dossier alleging links between Trump and Russia. Trump also mocked McCain on Twitter for being "last in his class" at the U.S. Naval Academy. The former Navy pilot graduated from the military academy in 1958, finishing near, but not at, the bottom of his class.

For the pro-military audience gathered in Ohio, Trump added a point to his list of grievances against McCain: He blamed the senator for helping persuade President George W. Bush to invade Iraq.

“Thousands and thousands of our people have been killed, millions of people overall,” Trump said. “And frankly, we're straightening it out now, but it’s been a disaster for the country.”

He also reiterated his qualms with McCain over the dossier and the vote to repeal Obamacare, tailoring his lines to the crowd.

“He went thumbs down, badly hurting the Republican Party, badly hurting our nation and hurting many sick people who desperately wanted good, affordable health care,” Trump said, adding: “McCain didn't get the job done for our great vets in the VA.”

Trump’s inflammatory remarks about the late senator have drawn scathing criticism from lawmakers and members of McCain’s family. The president concluded his tirade in Ohio by blaming the media for drawing out the issue.

“Not my kind of guy, but some people like him,” Trump concluded.