Donald Trump has said and done a lot of things in the past two years that have elicited the response, “Good lord, get this guy committed already.” Up there is his protracted feud with a dead man, the late senator John McCain. The president has repeatedly attacked McCain since the lawmaker died in August, railing against him for refusing to help repeal the Affordable Care Act, mocking his academic performance without a trace of irony, and, in a surreal rant at an Ohio factory, complaining that he “didn’t get ‘thank you’” for giving McCain “the kind of funeral that he wanted,” a gripe that, naturally, completely misrepresented the situation. So, deranged as it may be, you can sort of understand why someone at the White House was apparently worried that the mere sight of McCain’s name was liable to set the president off during a trip abroad, triggering an international meltdown they hoped to avoid.

The Wall Street Journal reports that, ahead of Trump’s visit to Japan, the White House attempted to get the U.S. Navy to move the warship USS John S. McCain “out of sight” in anticipation of the president’s arrival. In a May 15 email, sent from a U.S. Indo-Pacific Command official to Navy and Air Force officials, plans were laid out for Trump’s arrival, including removing the apparently offensive vessel. “Please confirm #3”—i.e., the McCain item—“will be satisfied,” the official wrote.

Given that the warship was undergoing repairs and would be difficult to move, there were reportedly discussions on how to handle the situation. Initially, per the Journal, a tarp was hung over McCain’s name, and “sailors were directed to remove any coverings from the ship that bore its name.” Later, after the tarp was removed, a barge was brought closer to the ship, blocking its name, because apparently Trump is viewed the world over as collicky baby.

Sailors on the ship, who typically wear caps bearing its name, were given the day off during Mr. Trump’s visit, people familiar with the matter said. The picture of the tarp was taken on Friday and the tarp was taken down on Saturday, a Navy official said. The paint barge was also removed ahead of the presidential visit, said Cmdr. Clayton Doss, a spokesman for the Navy’s Seventh Fleet.

“Senior Navy officials in Hawaii and Japan last week determined the ships should remain in their normal configuration,” a U.S. official said.

Acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan reportedly approved the effort to move McCain’s name out of Trump’s line of vision—though on Thursday, he said, “What I read this morning was the first I heard about it.” Trump wrote in a tweet that he was not informed of the plan, but, because staffers were unable to slip a sedative in his breakfast, he couldn’t stop himself from stomping all over McCain‘s grave before departing the White House Thursday morning. “I was very angry with John McCain because he killed health care,” Trump told a reporter when asked about the matter before leaving for Colorado. “I was not a big fan of John McCain in any way, shape, or form. To me, John McCain—I wasn’t a fan, but I would never do a thing like that. Now, somebody did it because they thought I didn’t like him, okay? They were well-meaning, I will say.”

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