Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsInside the War Between Trump and His Generals
How Mark Milley and others in the Pentagon handled the national-security threat posed by their own Commander-in-Chief.
In the summer of 2017, after just half a year in the White House, Donald Trump flew to Paris for Bastille Day celebrations thrown by Emmanuel Macron, the new French President. Macron staged a spectacular martial display to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the American entrance into the First World War. Vintage tanks rolled down the Champs-Élysées as fighter jets roared overhead. The event seemed to be calculated to appeal to Trumphis sense of showmanship and grandiosityand he was visibly delighted. The French general in charge of the parade turned to one of his American counterparts and said, You are going to be doing this next year.
Sure enough, Trump returned to Washington determined to have his generals throw him the biggest, grandest military parade ever for the Fourth of July. The generals, to his bewilderment, reacted with disgust. Id rather swallow acid, his Defense Secretary, James Mattis, said. Struggling to dissuade Trump, officials pointed out that the parade would cost millions of dollars and tear up the streets of the capital.
But the gulf between Trump and the generals was not really about money or practicalities, just as their endless policy battles were not only about clashing views on whether to withdraw from Afghanistan or how to combat the nuclear threat posed by North Korea and Iran. The divide was also a matter of values, of how they viewed the United States itself. That was never clearer than when Trump told his new chief of staff, John Kellylike Mattis, a retired Marine Corps generalabout his vision for Independence Day. Look, I dont want any wounded guys in the parade, Trump said. This doesnt look good for me. He explained with distaste that at the Bastille Day parade there had been several formations of injured veterans, including wheelchair-bound soldiers who had lost limbs in battle.
Kelly could not believe what he was hearing. Those are the heroes, he told Trump. In our society, theres only one group of people who are more heroic than they areand they are buried over in Arlington. Kelly did not mention that his own son Robert, a lieutenant killed in action in Afghanistan, was among the dead interred there.
I dont want them, Trump repeated. It doesnt look good for me.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/08/15/inside-the-war-between-trump-and-his-generals
In the summer of 2017, after just half a year in the White House, Donald Trump flew to Paris for Bastille Day celebrations thrown by Emmanuel Macron, the new French President. Macron staged a spectacular martial display to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the American entrance into the First World War. Vintage tanks rolled down the Champs-Élysées as fighter jets roared overhead. The event seemed to be calculated to appeal to Trumphis sense of showmanship and grandiosityand he was visibly delighted. The French general in charge of the parade turned to one of his American counterparts and said, You are going to be doing this next year.
Sure enough, Trump returned to Washington determined to have his generals throw him the biggest, grandest military parade ever for the Fourth of July. The generals, to his bewilderment, reacted with disgust. Id rather swallow acid, his Defense Secretary, James Mattis, said. Struggling to dissuade Trump, officials pointed out that the parade would cost millions of dollars and tear up the streets of the capital.
But the gulf between Trump and the generals was not really about money or practicalities, just as their endless policy battles were not only about clashing views on whether to withdraw from Afghanistan or how to combat the nuclear threat posed by North Korea and Iran. The divide was also a matter of values, of how they viewed the United States itself. That was never clearer than when Trump told his new chief of staff, John Kellylike Mattis, a retired Marine Corps generalabout his vision for Independence Day. Look, I dont want any wounded guys in the parade, Trump said. This doesnt look good for me. He explained with distaste that at the Bastille Day parade there had been several formations of injured veterans, including wheelchair-bound soldiers who had lost limbs in battle.
Kelly could not believe what he was hearing. Those are the heroes, he told Trump. In our society, theres only one group of people who are more heroic than they areand they are buried over in Arlington. Kelly did not mention that his own son Robert, a lieutenant killed in action in Afghanistan, was among the dead interred there.
I dont want them, Trump repeated. It doesnt look good for me.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/08/15/inside-the-war-between-trump-and-his-generals
Link to tweet
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
2 replies, 675 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (11)
ReplyReply to this post
2 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Inside the War Between Trump and His Generals (Original Post)
demmiblue
Aug 2022
OP
dalton99a
(81,601 posts)1. "I don't give a shit anymore. I want a yes-man!"
For Trump, the decision was a turning point. Instead of installing another strong-willed White House chief of staff who might have told him no, the President gravitated toward one who would basically go along with whatever he wanted. A week later, Kelly made an unsuccessful last-ditch effort to persuade Trump not to replace him with Mick Mulvaney, a former congressman from South Carolina who was serving as Trumps budget director. You dont want to hire someone whos going to be a yes-man, Kelly told the President. I dont give a shit anymore, Trump replied. I want a yes-man!
A little more than a week after that, Mattis was out, too, having quit in protest over Trumps order that the U.S. abruptly withdraw its forces from Syria right after Mattis had met with American allies fighting alongside the U.S. It was the first time in nearly four decades that a major Cabinet secretary had resigned over a national-security dispute with the President.
The so-called axis of adults was over. None of them had done nearly as much to restrain Trump as the Presidents critics thought they should have. But all of themKelly, Mattis, Dunford, plus H. R. McMaster, the national-security adviser, and Rex Tillerson, Trumps first Secretary of Statehad served as guardrails in one way or another. Trump hoped to replace them with more malleable figures. As Mattis would put it, Trump was so out of his depth that he had decided to drain the pool.
A little more than a week after that, Mattis was out, too, having quit in protest over Trumps order that the U.S. abruptly withdraw its forces from Syria right after Mattis had met with American allies fighting alongside the U.S. It was the first time in nearly four decades that a major Cabinet secretary had resigned over a national-security dispute with the President.
The so-called axis of adults was over. None of them had done nearly as much to restrain Trump as the Presidents critics thought they should have. But all of themKelly, Mattis, Dunford, plus H. R. McMaster, the national-security adviser, and Rex Tillerson, Trumps first Secretary of Statehad served as guardrails in one way or another. Trump hoped to replace them with more malleable figures. As Mattis would put it, Trump was so out of his depth that he had decided to drain the pool.
Hotler
(11,447 posts)2. "I'd rather swallow acid," his Defense Secretary, James Mattis, said.
Curious, did he say that to the orange one's face? Alarm bells going off all over the place and so many in position stayed silent. There's a reason Profiles in Courage is one volume.