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Trump gave private praise to “Hitler’s generals”

Matte Jr
Trump gave private praise to “Hitler’s generals”

In 2021, Donald Trump’s spokesman denied that the former Republican president had ever made positive comments about Adolf Hitler. More than three years later, these denials are increasingly difficult to believe. A new report from The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg included:

Trump has frequently expressed his disdain for those who serve in the military and their devotion to duty, honor and sacrifice. Former generals who worked for Trump say the only military virtue he values ​​is obedience. As his presidency drew to a close, and in the years that followed, he became increasingly interested in the advantages of dictatorship and the absolute control over the military that he believed it would provide. “I need the kind of generals Hitler had,” Trump said in a private conversation at the White House, according to two people who heard him say it.

As was the case three years ago, a Trump spokesperson told The Atlantic that the quote is “absolutely false,” adding that the former president “never said this.”

That said, retired Gen. John Kelly — Trump’s former Homeland Security secretary and former White House chief of staff — has gone official with Goldberg. From the report:

Kelly told me that when Trump brought up the subject of “German generals,” Kelly responded by asking, “’Do you mean Bismarck’s generals?’” He continued, “I mean, I knew he didn’t know who Bismarck was, or about the Franco-Prussian War. I said, ‘You mean the Kaiser’s generals? Surely you can’t be referring to Hitler’s generals? And he said, ‘Yes, yes, Hitler’s generals.’

Kelly also told Goldberg, again on the record, that the former president “used the terms suckers and losers to describe soldiers who gave their lives in defense of our country. There are many, many people who have heard him say these things.”

If recent history is any guide, the GOP nominee will almost certainly lash out violently at the man who served to his right for much of his presidency — he has already publicly referred to the retired general as “dumb” and “a scoundrel with a bad personality.” very small brain and very big mouth” – although Kelly has been eager to talk about this and related issues for some time.

For his book “The Return of the Great Powers,” Kelly told reporter Jim Sciutto that Trump said privately that Hitler “did some good things.” For his book, “The Divider,” the retired general also told Peter Baker and Susan Glasser that he wanted Kelly and his colleagues to be more like “the German generals.”

When Kelly asked Trump for clarification, the then president reportedly responded by specifying: “German generals in World War II.”

It now appears that the former White House chief of staff is adding even more clarity to his experiences alongside Trump.

This is, of course, the same Kelly who said, after working closely with Trump, that the Republican is guilty of “poisoning” people’s minds, of having “serious character problems” and of not being “a man of integrity.” true”.

Kelly also said that Trump “has no idea what America stands for and has no idea what America stands for” and “has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution and the rule of law.”

What’s more, Kelly told The New York Times in 2022 that Trump, during his presidency, told his chief of staff to use the Internal Revenue Service and the Justice Department to target his critics and perceived political enemies.

The Times report went on to note: “Mr. Kelly said he made it clear to Mr. Trump that there were serious legal and ethical problems with what he wanted.” In any case, the then president made demands “regularly”.

With two weeks until Election Day 2024, it appears the retired general has not yet finished clarifying what he knows about his former boss’s perspective.

This post updates our related previous coverage.

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