It’s common knowledge that Donald Trump is a self-obsessed narcissist, but he also considers himself to be somewhat of a patriot, so when the guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain was involved in a collision on Sunday evening with an oil tanker near the mouth of the Strait of Malacca en route to Singapore, an incident that left 10 sailors missing and another five injured, one would expect the President of the United States to have some compassionate words.
But that wasn’t to be the case. Instead, President Trump had a simple three-word reaction for journalists — “That’s too bad.” The Commander in Chief reportedly didn’t even offer any further comment for the media, instead taking to his preferred platform, Twitter, to send his condolences to those involved in the collision, offering the stock-standard “thoughts and prayers” response, but very little else.
Thoughts & prayers are w/ our @USNavy sailors aboard the #USSJohnSMcCain where search & rescue efforts are underway. https://t.co/DQU0zTRXNU
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 21, 2017
It is unknown whether the President had been briefed prior to commenting on the incident, but regardless, neither his comments to the media or those he later tweeted showed anything that came even remotely close to true compassion.
According to the US Navy, the USS John S. McCain, based in Yokosuka, Japan, sustained damage to its port side after colliding with the merchant ship, the accident reported at 5:24 am Monday local time, as the destroyer passed the entrance to one of the world’s most congested shipping routes, the Strait of Malacca. Carl Schuster, a former director of operations at the US Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Center, claims the oil tanker also involved in the incident would have been at least three times larger than the USS John S. McCain.
Featured image via Mark Wilson/Getty Images
