(CNN)Sen. John McCain -- who once called former President Barack Obama's foreign policy "feckless" -- insisted that his 2008 presidential rival still provided more American global leadership than the current president.
The Arizona Republican was asked in an interview published Sunday if America's standing on the global stage was better under Obama than President Donald Trump.
"As far as American leadership is concerned, yes," McCain told the Guardian.
McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, appeared irritated when asked about Trump's message to the United Kingdom. Trump drew condemnation across the British political spectrum after attacking London Mayor Sadiq Khan on Twitter in the wake of the London Bridge terrorist attack. Khan and other British politicians called on the British government to cancel Trump's visit.
"What do you think the message is? The message is that America doesn't want to lead," he replied.
The world is "not sure of American leadership, whether it be in Siberia or whether it be in Antarctica," McCain added.
British Prime Minister Theresa May extended an invitation to Trump to visit the United Kingdom on behalf of the Queen just a week after his inauguration, a move that was heavily criticized in the UK.
But no official date has been set and the White House denied a recent report that Trump was planning to delay his state visit over fears of potential protests and his perceived unpopularity.
In a new legal challenge to President Trump, Maryland and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit Monday alleging that his failure to shed his private businesses has undermined public trust and violated constitutional bans against self-dealing.
The lawsuit, filed in a Maryland federal court, makes many of the same arguments in a lawsuit filed earlier this year by a Washington watchdog organization in a New York federal court. But some legal experts said it rested on stronger legal ground because the plaintiffs were governmental entities, which could have stronger standing to sue the president.
The complaint opens uncharted legal territory. No state has accused a president of violating the emoluments clauses of the Constitution. One of those clauses bans federal officials from accepting gifts from foreign governments. A second prohibits the president from accepting economic benefits from the federal or state governments, other than his salary.
Because Mr. Trump continues to own and profit from his business empire, the lawsuit claims, it is unclear whether he is making decisions in the country’s best interest or out of “self-interested motivations grounded in the international and domestic business dealings in which President Trump’s personal fortune is at stake.”
It argues that businesses owned by Mr. Trump divert customers away from businesses the District of Columbia and Maryland either own, license or tax, causing those governments direct financial harm. For example, it contends, the Trump International Hotel in Washington competes with convention facilities owned by the city’s government, as well as with a resort in Prince George’s County that generates tax revenue for Maryland.
The suit alleges that the president has misused his position to increase patronage of his family’s hotels and the restaurants in them by foreign diplomats and others. Though those businesses pay taxes, the lawsuit argues that it puts Maryland and the District of Columbia at a competitive disadvantage.
In the earlier New York case, the Justice Department has asked a federal judge to dismiss the complaint, arguing that the emoluments clauses do not prohibit presidents from owning businesses. That lawsuit was initiated by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
In a 70-page brief filed Friday, the Justice Department also contended that even if Mr. Trump’s business interests did violate the Constitution, it would be up to Congress, not a federal court, to devise a remedy.
The department also argued that the plaintiffs in that case, who include the owner of a hotel and restaurant, had not demonstrated any revenue loss as a result of Mr. Trump’s businesses.
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