Trump Asked Aide Why His Generals Couldn't Be Like Hitler's, Book Says
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Why cant you be like the German generals? Mr. Trump told John Kelly, his chief of staff, preceding the question with an obscenity, according to an excerpt from The Divider: Trump in the White House, by Peter Baker and Susan Glasser, published online by The New Yorker on Monday morning. (Mr. Baker is the chief White House correspondent for The New York Times; Ms. Glasser is a staff writer for The New Yorker.)
The excerpt depicts Mr. Trump as deeply frustrated by his top military officials, whom he saw as insufficiently loyal or obedient to him. In the conversation with Mr. Kelly, which took place years before the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, the authors write, the chief of staff told Mr. Trump that Germanys generals had tried to kill Hitler three times and almost pulled it off.
Mr. Trump was dismissive, according to the excerpt, apparently unaware of the World War II history that Mr. Kelly, a retired four-star general, knew all too well.
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The generals frustration with the president peaked on June 1, 2020, when Black Lives Matter protesters filled Lafayette Square, near the White House. Mr. Trump demanded to send in the military to clear the protesters, but General Milley and other top aides refused. In response, Mr. Trump shouted, You are all losers! according to the excerpt. Turning to Milley, Trump said, Cant you just shoot them? Just shoot them in the legs or something? the authors write.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/08/us/politics/trump-book-mark-milley.html