Former President Donald Trump praised Adolf Hitler’s generals for their loyalty to the German dictator and said he wanted American military personnel to show the same respect, according to a new article published Tuesday by The Atlantic. It is said that
“We need a general like Hitler,” he said in a private White House conversation when he was president, The Atlantic reported. “They were people who were fiercely loyal to him and followed his orders.”
Generals and other U.S. military officers take an oath to the Constitution, not to the commander-in-chief.
President Trump reportedly made similar comments about Adolf Hitler and his generals. The book, published in 2022, also reports that Trump told then-chief of staff John Kelly, “Why can’t you be like a German general?” Trump’s comments during his presidency were reported in Peter Baker and Susan Glasser’s “The Divider: Trump in the White House.”
When The Atlantic recently asked Mr. Kelly about the exchange, the former Marine Corps general confirmed it.
“‘You mean General Bismarck?'” Kelly told The Atlantic. He added, “So I knew he didn’t know about Bismarck or the Franco-Prussian War.” I said, “You mean the Kaiser’s generals?” No way Hitler’s generals. Isn’t that what you’re saying? ‘And he said, ‘Yes, yes, Hitler’s generals.’ I explained to him that Rommel had to commit suicide after taking part in a conspiracy against Hitler. ”
“This is completely false. President Trump never said that,” said Alex Pfeiffer, a Trump campaign adviser.
The article develops a series of stories that The Atlantic used to explain President Trump’s views on the military and his desires for how the military would function under his command. In addition to detailing the former president’s musings about the loyalty of Nazi generals, The Atlantic reported that Trump was furious about how much it cost to voluntarily pay for the funerals of fallen soldiers.
The Atlantic reported that President Trump told the family of Fort Hood Pfc. Vanessa Guillen was bludgeoned to death with a hammer in the armory room where she worked, and her funeral expenses were supposed to be paid, but they weren’t.
When he received the $60,000 bill, Trump reported, quoting two people who attended the meeting and a memo from someone at the meeting: “It costs less than $60,000 to bury the King of Mexico!”
President Trump instructed then-chief of staff Mark Meadows not to pay for the funeral. Later that day, Trump reportedly said, “You motherfuckers are trying to fool me.”
“President Donald Trump never said that. This is an outrageous lie from the Atlantic two weeks before the election,” Pfeiffer said.
