Report: Trump demanded his generals be loyal like German generals were to Hitler

"...as Trump grew frustrated that the generals were not exhibiting blind loyalty to him, he exclaimed to his chief of staff, John Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general: “You ****ing generals, why can’t you be like the German generals?”

“Which generals?” Kelly asked.

“The German generals in World War II,” Trump responded.

“You do know that they tried to kill Hitler three times and almost pulled it off?” Kelly said."

Link

Gives you a little taste of what we have to look forward to if the Republican strong man returns to power.

Trump desperately wants to be a dictator, not a president.

Well herr trump did you know hitler had rommel killed and then gave him a state funeral so be careful what you ask for if this is the way you are going to treat your generals.

I wonder if these trump supporters will ever realize that loyalty is a one way street with trump?

j brown's body said:

"...as Trump grew frustrated that the generals were not exhibiting blind loyalty to him, he exclaimed to his chief of staff, John Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general: “You ****ing generals, why can’t you be like the German generals?”

“Which generals?” Kelly asked.

“The German generals in World War II,” Trump responded.

“You do know that they tried to kill Hitler three times and almost pulled it off?” Kelly said."

Link

Gives you a little taste of what we have to look forward to if the Republican strong man returns to power.

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That's hilarious.

Fox News top stories this morning...

I can't begin to fathom who Trump would surround himself with if he ever regained the WH. No competent, qualified person with one iota of integrity would want any part of it. Of course the fact he demands total loyalty would compound the problem. The result would be a disastrous Cabinet and inner circle.

All members of the government, and people of the United States should be loyal to the United States; not a person. **** Trump. His followers are loyal to him, not to America. Putting this shit stain before America is disgusting.

bongsaway said:

I wonder if these trump supporters will ever realize that loyalty is a one way street with trump?

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Some of the MAGA crowd are too ignorant to realize that, some are too stupid to realize that, but many of them do realize that Trump's loyalty is one-way and choose to ignore it. Trump has lots of willfully ignorant supporters.

j brown's body said:

"...as Trump grew frustrated that the generals were not exhibiting blind loyalty to him, he exclaimed to his chief of staff, John Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general: “You ****ing generals, why can’t you be like the German generals?”

“Which generals?” Kelly asked.

“The German generals in World War II,” Trump responded.

“You do know that they tried to kill Hitler three times and almost pulled it off?” Kelly said."

Link

Gives you a little taste of what we have to look forward to if the Republican strong man returns to power.

Click to expand...

There's a lot more at the source article.


Final paragraph:

Later, Milley would often think back to that awful day. “It was a very close-run thing,” the historically minded chairman would say, invoking the famous line of the Duke of Wellington after he had only narrowly defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. Trump and his men had failed in their execution of the plot, failed in part by failing to understand that Milley and the others had never been Trump’s generals and never would be. But their attack on the election had exposed a system with glaring weaknesses. “They shook the very Republic to the core,” Milley would eventually reflect. “Can you imagine what a group of people who are much more capable could have done?” ♦

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That last line is what worries me. Trump and those surrounding him were largely incompetents. We shouldn't assume that will always be the case....

Callen said:

I can't begin to fathom who Trump would surround himself with if he ever regained the WH. No competent, qualified person with one iota of integrity would want any part of it. Of course the fact he demands total loyalty would compound the problem. The result would be a disastrous Cabinet and inner circle.

Click to expand...

I'm about 1/3 of the way thru the New Yorker article that the OP quotes.
It is stunning, if not surprising. And with quotes and comments from the former generals, and cabinet members all confirming that in the end, the only job qualification Trump required was complete loyalty to him, and his demented plans.

So yes, a 2nd term with his hand picked toadies would be a disaster.

Not sure if you have read Doris Kearns Goodwins Pulitzer Prize winning book on Lincoln: Team of Rivals.
It details Lincoln's efforts to surround himself with a cabinet of the best and brightest despite the fact they disagreed with him on issues. In fact several actually campaigned against him for the Presidency in 1860 and were truly rivals of his.

The antithesis of Trump which is a big reason Trump's presidency was an abject failure while Lincoln is heralded as one of the best, if not the best President we ever had.

Buckeyes85 said:

I'm about 1/3 of the way thru the New Yorker article that the OP quotes.
It is stunning, if not surprising. And with quotes and comments from the former generals, and cabinet members all confirming that in the end, the only job qualification Trump required was complete loyalty to him, and his demented plans.

So yes, a 2nd term with his hand picked toadies would be a disaster.

Not sure if you have read Doris Kearns Goodwins Pulitzer Prize winning book on Lincoln: Team of Rivals.
It details Lincoln's efforts to surround himself with a cabinet of the best and brightest despite the fact they disagreed with him on issues. In fact several campaigned against him for the Presidency in 1860 and were truly rivals of his.

The antithesis of Trump is a big reason Trump's presidency was an abject failure while Lincoln is heralded as one of the best, if not the best President we ever had.

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No, I didn't read the book but I did see the movie. I think Obama did something similar. I simply can't imagine what his Cabinet would look like and sadly I don't think his supporters care or even give it much thought. I would think though it would be a Cabinet of "actings" as well as other posts requiring Senate approval. Let's see......Eastman for AG, Bannon as Chief of Staff, Flynn for Defence Secretary, Ornato as National Security Advisor, Cruz as Secretary of State......

Buckeyes85 said:

It details Lincoln's efforts to surround himself with a cabinet of the best and brightest despite the fact they disagreed with him on issues. In fact several actually campaigned against him for the Presidency in 1860 and were truly rivals of his.

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It makes for a nice story, but especially in today's situation, it makes no sense. Imagine James Bind's MI6 saying 'the most skilled person seems to be Blofeld, so we're asking him to join the team'. We romanticize this 'best person' idea, but far more important are policies. What good would a cabinet who undermine and sabotage do? The idea was premised on people who would 'put country first'. Look at today's Republicans.

I suspect that even Lincon's motivation had a lot less to do with 'the best' and a lot more to do with neutralizing political opposition.

Our politics today are about a government either supporting plutocracy, or the American people. That's what matters.

And if you put a soldier in the plutocrat army into the administration of Biden, it's not going to be some romanticized 'they're the best' situation. Look who Biden has kept from trump - DeJoy at the Post Office, the head of the Secret Service, Christopher Wray at the FBI. Are those some 'best' great results? No, we have DeJoy sabotaging and the SS head involved in a coverup for trump.

Would it be better if Biden kept Mitch McConnell's wife in the cabinet? trump's Secretary of State? How about Bill Barr or Jeffrey Clark for AG? Maybe let Jared continue as the president's right-hand guy. Rick Perry, keep on running Department of Energy.