President of the United States Donald Trump blocked the proposal of the White House press secretary Sara Sanders and the Chief of Staff John Kelly to publish an official statement on the death of John McCain in which they wanted to characterize the senator as a hero.

This is reported by the UP with reference to The Washington Post.

The statement, in which they wanted to recall the military past of McCain and characterize as a hero, was prepared before the senator died on Saturday, and Sanders and other assistants in the White House edited it within a week.

When it was ready, Trump stressed that he prefers to write a tweet with words of condolences for the family of the deceased, so the statement was not published.

"My deepest condolences and respect for Senator John McCain's family. Our hearts and prayers are with you! ", - wrote the US president on Twitter.

Sanders declined to comment on the situation. At the same time, Mark Corallo, a former representative of the Trump legal team and a Republican strategist, criticized Trump's reaction to McCain's death.

"It's horrible. The president should have expected more, especially if it is a question of a real American hero, "he stressed..

The publication notes that, as a rule, the administration of the White House always publishes official obituaries in the event of the death of outstanding Americans.

US President Donald Trump was not invited to the funeral of US Senator John McCain, who died on Saturday.

McCain, who planned his own funeral, bequeathed not to call for Trump's farewell ceremony, whose harsh critic he was. The senator's family shares his position.

The deceased severely criticized Trump - he called him "impulsive" and "misinformed" and criticized it for the policies of the head of the White House regarding Russia, Syria and China.

Trump, in turn, called McCain "incompetent". During the presidential campaign, he publicly ridiculed the senator, saying that he "became a hero because he was captured," and Trump, according to him, likes "people who were not prisoners".

The senator will be buried in Annapolis, Maryland, at the Naval Academy cemetery. The farewell ceremony will take place in the Arizona Parliamentary Assembly - exactly this state McCain represented in Congress for 35 years.

Before the burial the coffin with its body will be placed under the dome of the rotunda of the Washington Capitol.

In the whole history, only 30 prominent figures of the United States. McCain will become the 13th senator, who was awarded this posthumous honors. On this sorrowful occasion, the White House lowered the flag.

US Senator John McCain, who was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2017, died at the age of 82.

On the eve he announced a decision to stop treatment of a cancerous tumor.