Pentagon tells White House: Keep politics away from the military

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan had a message for the White House: Politics and the military don’t mix.

Shanahan and Navy officials have faced intense scrutiny over a White House request to hide the USS John S. McCain warship during President Trump’s visit to Japan last month — a moment, among others, some defense officials and analysts have said is a sign of decay in the civilian-military relationship, which has been traditionally immune to partisan rancor.

Amid the backlash, Shanahan directed his chief of staff to tell the White House not to put the military in political situations, Shanahan’s spokesman, Lt. Col. Joseph Buccino, told The Washington Post.

The Navy confirmed Saturday that it received a request from the White House to “minimize the visibility” of the ship.

Read the full article and more in The Washington Post.