McCain, recovering from surgery, does not want Trump at his funeral

US Senator John McCain, 81 and battling brain cancer, has made clear he does not want President Donald Trump to attend his funeral, American media reported Saturday.

McCain, a Vietnam war vet and respected senator from Arizona who has had a turbulent relationship with Trump, instead wants Vice President Mike Pence to represent the White House, The New York Times and NBC News said, quoting people close to McCain.

McCain is also using a new book and documentary to express regret about not having selected former senator Joseph Lieberman as his running mate in 2008 against Barack Obama and instead going with populist Sarah Palin, the Times said.

McCain has been fighting an aggressive form of brain cancer for more than a year. He is currently back in Arizona, recovering from surgery for an intestinal infection.

McCain and Trump have had a rough relationship, particularly during the 2016 presidential primary, when Trump said McCain — a POW for years in Vietnam — was not really a war hero because he was captured.

Last summer Trump slammed McCain for a “no” vote that helped doom a key bill to repeal Obamacare — the health care reforms passed into law under president Barack Obama.

A frail McCain has been receiving a stream of visitors and good wishes at his Arizona ranch as he confronts the aftermath of brain cancer treatment and surgery.

Former vice president Joe Biden sat with McCain for 90 minutes last Sunday, according to people close to both men. Biden followed McCain’s closest friends, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and retired Connecticut Sen. Lieberman, who visited McCain at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix two weeks ago. McCain’s daughter, Meghan, tweeted Friday that she was heading to her father’s side.

“Going home to Arizona to be with my family,” she tweeted. “Thank you all again for your prayers, patience, understanding and compassion during this time. It means the world to me and my entire family.”

McCain had hoped to return to the Senate, where he’s served since 1987. He has been unable to do so after cancer treatment and surgery for an intestinal infection last month. Despite that, he’s finished work on a new book being released May 22, “The Restless Wave.” And he continued to advocate for a return to the days when partisans could disagree without demonizing each other.

“I’d like to see us recover our sense that we’re more alike than different,” McCain said in audio excerpts from his book reported by National Public Radio.

McCain has amplified his call for more civil politics since his diagnosis in July with glioblastoma. It is the same rare and aggressive brain cancer that felled his friend, Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy, at age 77 in 2009, and Biden’s son Beau at 46 in 2015.

McCain hasn’t been seen in public since December, just before he was hospitalized for a viral infection at Walter Reed National Medical Center in Maryland. He then returned home to Arizona to recover, do physical therapy and continue cancer treatment at the Mayo Clinic. On December 17, his office issued a news release saying he was looking forward to returning to Washington in January. He did not return.

McCain’s family and staff have kept news of his condition and treatment private, with his office routinely saying it has no new information to share. In mid-April, it was announced that he had been hospitalized for intestinal surgery needed to stem an infection related to diverticulitis, a condition where the colon develops small bulges that can sometimes become infected.

At week’s end, McCain was recuperating, eating well and enjoying the ranch at full bloom, according to a person close to him.

The visits by Graham and Lieberman were confirmed to The Associated Press by people knowledgeable about the meetings, but who spoke on condition of anonymity to respect the family’s privacy.

His wife, Cindy McCain, tweeted April 23 that he had been released from the hospital, but no official word came from his Senate office.

“@SenJohnMcCain and I are home in our beloved Hidden Valley enjoying a glorious Arizona sunset,” the tweet said.