Thumbs Up! Political Fundraising at Arlington Cemetery Over Graves
“It’s the equivalent of the congressional Medal of Honor,” Trump said of the civilian Medal of Freedom. “But the civilian version, it’s actually much better because everyone that gets the Congressional Medal of Honor, they’re soldiers. They’re either in very bad shape because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets or they’re dead.” https://www.militarytimes.com/veterans/2024/08/20/trump-clarifies-medal-of-honor-comments-calls-it-the-ultimate-honor/
"What can I add that has not already been said?” Marine Corps General John Kelly said, when asked if he wanted to weigh in on his former boss in light of recent comments made by other former Trump officials. “A person that thinks those who defend their country in uniform, or are shot down or seriously wounded in combat, or spend years being tortured as POWs are all ‘suckers’ because ‘there is nothing in it for them.’
A person that did not want to be seen in the presence of military amputees because ‘it doesn’t look good for me.’ A person who demonstrated open contempt for a Gold Star family – for all Gold Star families – on TV during the 2016 campaign, and rants that our most precious heroes who gave their lives in America’s defense are ‘losers’ and wouldn’t visit their graves in France."
John Kelly's Marine son Michael died in combat. arlingtoncemetery.net/rmkelly.htm
https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/02/politics/john-kelly-donald-trump-us-service-members-veterans/index.html
_______________________
General Kelly is a stand up honest Marine. He worked for Trump as his longest serving Chief of Staff. Why would he lie about this? His son died in combat, and Kelly served in the room with Trump. General Kelly is telling the truth.
We shouId honor all veterans who died for us. I honor the Marines I served with, my high school comrades, and my great uncles. Semper Fi.
Craig Hullinger
__________
__________
Trump was asked about the naval service of then–U.S. senator from Arizona John McCain, in which Trump responded:
"He's not a war hero, he's a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren't captured, okay? I hate to tell you.[1][9]"
"Donald Trump: John McCain Is ‘A Loser,’"
When McCain died, in August 2018, Trump told his senior staff, according to three sources with direct knowledge of this event, ‘We’re not going to support that loser’s funeral,’ and he became furious, according to witnesses, when he saw flags lowered to half-staff. ‘What the f--- are we doing that for? Guy was a f---ing loser,’ the president told aides."
______________________
Trump Has Mocked the U.S. Military His Whole Life
Egged on by his father, the U.S. president began expressing contempt for Americans who fight in wars as far back as high school, his classmates say.
Foreign Policy Magazine My FP:SEPTEMBER 8, 2020
Perhaps no one was less surprised last week when it was reported that U.S. President Donald Trump had called American war dead “losers” and “suckers” than his former high school classmate George M. White.
The 74-year-old retired Army veteran was Trump’s superior—the first captain, or highest-ranking cadet—in Trump’s 1964 graduating class at the New York Military Academy. White said he witnessed up close Trump’s contempt for military service, discipline, and tradition, as well his ungoverned sense of entitlement, all helped along by his father Fred Trump’s generous donations to the school.
“No, those remarks absolutely didn’t surprise me. In my dealings with him he was a heartless, obnoxious son of a bitch,” White told me in an interview over the weekend.
According to White and other former classmates at the academy, Trump’s five years there, coupled with the disregard for U.S. military traditions he learned at his father’s knee, helps explain a great deal of the president’s reported contempt for those who fought, died, or were wounded in America’s wars, as well as his skeptical view of the need for the United States to fight in places like Vietnam and Iraq.
According to the Atlantic magazine, during a trip to France to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, Trump referred to the more than 1,800 U.S. Marines who lost their lives at Belleau Wood as “suckers.” Indicating that he didn’t understand why the United States had intervened at all in Europe in 1917, Trump also reportedly asked aides, “Who were the good guys in this war?”
The Atlantic article, portions of which have been corroborated by the Associated Press, the Washington Post, and Fox News, also reported that when Trump aborted a visit to another World War I cemetery, blaming the weather, he remarked, “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.” In addition, Trump reportedly said that the presence of maimed U.S. veterans would upset spectators at a military parade, commenting, “Nobody wants to see that.”
Trump’s comments appeared to be in line with the attitude he reportedly evinced on Memorial Day 2017, when he visited the grave of 1st Lt. Robert Kelly, the son of his then-homeland security secretary and later chief of staff John Kelly. Standing at the grave of the younger Kelly, who died in Afghanistan in 2010, Trump reportedly turned to the secretary and said: “I don’t get it. What was in it for them?”
__________________
But the report was supplemented on Friday morning by the Washington Post, which quoted “a former senior administration official” as saying that Trump “frequently made disparaging comments about veterans and soldiers missing in action, referring to them at times as ‘losers.’”
The Post quoted “a person familiar with the discussion” as saying that Trump told senior advisers he did not understand why the US government valued finding soldiers missing in action “because they had performed poorly and gotten caught and deserved what they got.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/03/trump-american-war-dead-losers-suckers-report
__________________
Trump Boasted of Avoiding STDs While Dating: Vaginas Are 'Landmines ... It Is My Personal Vietnam'
Donald Trump likens avoiding contracting STDs during his single years to Vietnam in Howard Stern interview
__________________
" A senior Defense Department official with firsthand knowledge of events and a senior U.S. Marine Corps officer who was told about Trump’s comments confirmed some of the remarks to The Associated Press, including the 2018 cemetery comments.
The defense officials said Trump made the comments as he begged off visiting the cemetery outside Paris during a meeting following his presidential daily briefing on the morning of Nov. 10, 2018.
Staffers from the National Security Council and the Secret Service told Trump that rainy weather made helicopter travel to the cemetery risky, but they could drive there. Trump responded by saying he didn’t want to visit the cemetery because it was “filled with losers,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss it publicly."
________
"Trump said: “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.” The article also claims that Trump called the 1,800 U.S. Marines who died at a nearby battlefield in World War I “suckers.”?
________
Reed: Trump Has Disparaged Fallen U.S. Soldiers & Gold Star Families on the Record
PROVIDENCE, RI -- Today, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), a West Point graduate and the Ranking Member of the Armed Services Committee, condemned President Trump’s language deriding members of the Armed Forces, fallen U.S. service members, and veterans.
While President Trump denied much of the details from a report in the Atlantic that he called fallen American soldiers “losers” and “suckers” and asked staff that disabled veterans be excluded from military parades, Senator Reed noted that President Trump has been caught on tape on multiple occasions insulting veterans, POWs, Americans with disabilities, and active duty troops who were wounded in battle.
“President Trump has denied saying a few of these things, but there is no denying his pettiness. He has certainly disparaged members of our Armed Forces who’ve dedicated their lives to serving others. He has verbally insulted Gold Star families, attacked the memories of courageous POWs like John McCain, derided men of honor like General Mattis, and played down the severity of trauma and wounds suffered by our deployed troops. Donald Trump has no understanding or meaningful regard for those who have rendered distinguished military service in war and peace. All of that is well established. You don’t need secondhand accounts because some of the comments occurred with cameras or microphones recording.
“President Trump’s toxic brand of so-called leadership has done serious, lasting damage to the U.S. military. He has broken faith with our troops and sought to misuse the military for his own partisan agenda. He has taken money away from needed military projects and diverted it to his ineffective border wall. He seems intent on making it difficult for members of the U.S. military who are stationed overseas to exercise their right to vote. The list goes on.
“It will take years to repair the damage President Trump has inflicted on the United States military.
“No one should condone the way Donald Trump insults people who gave their last full measure defending our nation. He degrades the sacred obligations of the office he’s been entrusted with.”
________
Trump on Tape
________
By Jeffrey Goldberg
Which former Trump defense secretary brands him a security threat?
Painting him as a security risk, former Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Sunday added his voice to those critical of former President Donald Trump for his handling of classified information after his presidency. Jun 18, 2023.
Which former Trump defense secretary brands him a security threat?
Painting him as a security risk, former Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Sunday added his voice to those critical of former President Donald Trump for his handling of classified information after his presidency. Jun 18, 2023.
_____________________
Marine General James Mattis comments on Trump.
WASHINGTON — Former Secretary of Defense James Mattis ripped into his former boss President Donald Trump in a scathing Wednesday night statement.
“Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people—does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us,” Mattis wrote in a statement published by The Atlantic. “We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership,” he wrote, adding that he “watched this week’s unfolding events, angry and appalled.”
Mattis’ statement comes as the nation braces for the ninth day of protests sparked by the police killing of George Floyd. Floyd died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
The ensuing civil unrest, some of which turned violent, prompted Trump to call for governors to use harsher tactics and greater force when confronting protesters.
On a Monday call with state governors, a recording of which was obtained by NBC News, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper told states “to dominate the battle space” when dealing with the demonstrations. Trump also said on the same call that he was putting the nation’s highest-ranking military officer, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley “in charge” of protest response efforts.
Mattis, who resigned from the Trump administration in December 2018, criticized Esper’s terminology.
“We must reject any thinking of our cities as a ‘battlespace’ that our uniformed military is called upon to ’dominate,” he explained. “Militarizing our response, as we witnessed in Washington, D.C., sets up a conflict—a false conflict—between the military and civilian society. It erodes the moral ground that ensures a trusted bond between men and women in uniform and the society they are sworn to protect, and of which they themselves are a part.”
On Wednesday, Esper told reporters at the Pentagon that he was using military lexicon but regretted using the term.
Mattis also took issue with a Monday night incident in which protestors were forcibly cleared from Lafayette Square, a small park in front of the president’s residence.
“The words ‘Equal Justice Under Law’ are carved in the pediment of the United States Supreme Court. This is precisely what protesters are rightly demanding. It is a wholesome and unifying demand—one that all of us should be able to get behind,” Mattis explained.
Trump walked through the square with several members of his Cabinet to stand in front of St. John’s Church while holding a Bible and posing for photographs. He later motioned to members of his Cabinet to join him for more pictures.
Esper, who has previously said he would preserve the U.S. military’s apolitical nature, entered the frame and stood alongside Trump for the photo op. In a Tuesday night interview with NBC News, Esper said: “I didn’t know where I was going” when asked about the highly criticized photo opportunity. “I thought I was going to do two things: to see some damage and to talk to the troops.”
“We must not be distracted by a small number of lawbreakers. The protests are defined by tens of thousands of people of conscience who are insisting that we live up to our values—our values as people and our values as a nation,” Mattis added.
“We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution.”
Trump fired back in a Wednesday night tweet by saying, he “had the honor of firing Jim Mattis, the world’s most overrated General.” He continued by saying that he “didn’t like his “leadership” style or much else about him.”
“Glad he is gone!”
Before Mattis became Trump’s Defense secretary, the four-star Marine Corps general led the U.S. Central Command, the combat command responsible for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Mattis, a revered Marine with a military career spanning four decades, was hailed for his battlefield prowess and kinship with rank-and-file servicemembers.
Throughout his military career, Mattis was affectionately referred to as “Mad Dog” and “warrior monk.” He was known for his strategy, matter-of-factness and disdain for PowerPoint, which is recognized as the U.S. military’s signature teaching tool.
In his extraordinary resignation letter that rocked Washington, Mattis wrote to Trump that he has “a right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours.”
“My views on treating allies with respect and also being clear-eyed about both malign actors and strategic competitors,” Mattis said, “are strongly held and informed by over four decades of immersion in these issues.”
The president has frequently lashed out at America’s allies in France, the United Kingdom, Canada and Germany, while at times appearing to side with U.S. adversaries over his own officials.
Marine General James Mattis comments on Trump.
WASHINGTON — Former Secretary of Defense James Mattis ripped into his former boss President Donald Trump in a scathing Wednesday night statement.
“Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people—does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us,” Mattis wrote in a statement published by The Atlantic. “We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership,” he wrote, adding that he “watched this week’s unfolding events, angry and appalled.”
Mattis’ statement comes as the nation braces for the ninth day of protests sparked by the police killing of George Floyd. Floyd died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
The ensuing civil unrest, some of which turned violent, prompted Trump to call for governors to use harsher tactics and greater force when confronting protesters.
On a Monday call with state governors, a recording of which was obtained by NBC News, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper told states “to dominate the battle space” when dealing with the demonstrations. Trump also said on the same call that he was putting the nation’s highest-ranking military officer, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley “in charge” of protest response efforts.
Mattis, who resigned from the Trump administration in December 2018, criticized Esper’s terminology.
“We must reject any thinking of our cities as a ‘battlespace’ that our uniformed military is called upon to ’dominate,” he explained. “Militarizing our response, as we witnessed in Washington, D.C., sets up a conflict—a false conflict—between the military and civilian society. It erodes the moral ground that ensures a trusted bond between men and women in uniform and the society they are sworn to protect, and of which they themselves are a part.”
On Wednesday, Esper told reporters at the Pentagon that he was using military lexicon but regretted using the term.
Mattis also took issue with a Monday night incident in which protestors were forcibly cleared from Lafayette Square, a small park in front of the president’s residence.
“The words ‘Equal Justice Under Law’ are carved in the pediment of the United States Supreme Court. This is precisely what protesters are rightly demanding. It is a wholesome and unifying demand—one that all of us should be able to get behind,” Mattis explained.
Trump walked through the square with several members of his Cabinet to stand in front of St. John’s Church while holding a Bible and posing for photographs. He later motioned to members of his Cabinet to join him for more pictures.
Esper, who has previously said he would preserve the U.S. military’s apolitical nature, entered the frame and stood alongside Trump for the photo op. In a Tuesday night interview with NBC News, Esper said: “I didn’t know where I was going” when asked about the highly criticized photo opportunity. “I thought I was going to do two things: to see some damage and to talk to the troops.”
“We must not be distracted by a small number of lawbreakers. The protests are defined by tens of thousands of people of conscience who are insisting that we live up to our values—our values as people and our values as a nation,” Mattis added.
“We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution.”
Trump fired back in a Wednesday night tweet by saying, he “had the honor of firing Jim Mattis, the world’s most overrated General.” He continued by saying that he “didn’t like his “leadership” style or much else about him.”
“Glad he is gone!”
Before Mattis became Trump’s Defense secretary, the four-star Marine Corps general led the U.S. Central Command, the combat command responsible for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Mattis, a revered Marine with a military career spanning four decades, was hailed for his battlefield prowess and kinship with rank-and-file servicemembers.
Throughout his military career, Mattis was affectionately referred to as “Mad Dog” and “warrior monk.” He was known for his strategy, matter-of-factness and disdain for PowerPoint, which is recognized as the U.S. military’s signature teaching tool.
In his extraordinary resignation letter that rocked Washington, Mattis wrote to Trump that he has “a right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours.”
“My views on treating allies with respect and also being clear-eyed about both malign actors and strategic competitors,” Mattis said, “are strongly held and informed by over four decades of immersion in these issues.”
The president has frequently lashed out at America’s allies in France, the United Kingdom, Canada and Germany, while at times appearing to side with U.S. adversaries over his own officials.
_____________
Podiatrist's daughters say bone spur diagnosis that helped Trump avoid Vietnam draft was 'favor'
“I earned my spurs on the battlefield … And Donald Trump earned his spurs in a letter from a doctor.”
General Jim Mattis
________
Trump only amplified his criticism of McCain as the Arizona lawmaker grew critical of his acerbic style of politics, culminating in a late-night “no” vote scuttling Trump’s plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act. That vote shattered what few partisan loyalties bound the two men, and Trump has continued to attack McCain for that vote, even posthumously.
The magazine said Trump also referred to former President George H.W. Bush as a “loser” because he was shot down by the Japanese as a Navy pilot in World War II.
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2020/09/03/report-trump-disparaged-us-war-dead-as-losers-suckers/
_________________
Generals - Trump Dangerous and Unfit
America’s Top Generals: Donald Trump is “Dangerous” and “Unfit” to Be Commander-in-Chief
OCTOBER 9, 2023
04:51 - Source: CNN
CNN —
Military leaders are usually cautious about airing their political opinions, but over the week, several former top military officials, including former Defense Secretary James Mattis, have raised the alarm and spoken out, in strong terms, against President Donald Trump.
A number of retired four-star generals and admirals denounced Trump’s threat to use the US active military to quell nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, at the hands of Minneapolis police.
The military leaders criticized the use of law enforcement and National Guard troops to aggressively disperse peaceful protesters outside the White House, so that Trump could walk over to the St. John’s Episcopal Church across the street and pose with a Bible. And some condemned the appearance of Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, accompanying Trump for the photo-op. Many of these military leaders have been critical of the President in the past.
Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis
Former Secretary of Defense under Trump
Statement released June 3
“Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people – does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society.”
Marine Corps. Gen. John Kelly
Former Chief of Staff to Trump, Former commander of US Southern Command under Obama
Interview on June 5
“I would’ve argued against it, recommended against it,” Kelly said of Trump’s photo-op. “I would argue that the end result of that was predictable.”
“I think we need to look harder at who we elect. I think we should look at people that are running for office and put them through the filter: What is their character like? What are their ethics?”
Marine Corps Gen. John Allen
Former commander of US forces in Afghanistan under Obama
Commentary published June 3 by Foreign Policy
“Donald Trump isn’t religious, has no need of religion, and doesn’t care about the devout, except insofar as they serve his political needs…To even the casual observer, Monday was awful for the United States and its democracy. The president’s speech was calculated to project his abject and arbitrary power, but he failed to project any of the higher emotions or leadership desperately needed in every quarter of this nation during this dire moment.”
Navy Adm. Mike Mullen
Former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under George W. Bush and Obama
Op-ed for The Atlantic published June 2
“It sickened me yesterday to see security personnel—including members of the National Guard—forcibly and violently clear a path through Lafayette Square to accommodate the president’s visit outside St. John’s Church. I have to date been reticent to speak out on issues surrounding President Trump’s leadership, but we are at an inflection point, and the events of the past few weeks have made it impossible to remain silent. Whatever Trump’s goal in conducting his visit, he laid bare his disdain for the rights of peaceful protest in this country, gave succor to the leaders of other countries who take comfort in our domestic strife, and risked further politicizing the men and women of our armed forces. There was little good in the stunt.”
Air Force Gen. Richard Myers
Former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under George W. Bush
Interview with CNN on June 4
“The first thing was just absolute sadness that people aren’t allowed to protest and that, as I understand it, that was a peaceful protest that was disturbed by force, and that’s not right. That should not happen in America. And so I was sad. I mean, we should all shed tears over that, that particular act. …I’m glad I don’t have to advise this President. I’m sure the senior military leadership is finding it really difficult these days to provide good, sound military advice.”
Army Gen. Martin Dempsey
Former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Obama
Interview with NPR on June 4
“The idea that the President would take charge of the situation using the military was troubling to me.”
William Perry
Former Defense Secretary served under Clinton
Twitter, June 4
“I am outraged at the deplorable behavior of our President and Defense Secretary Esper, threatening to use American military forces to suppress peaceful demonstrators exercising their constitutional rights. This is a deeply shameful moment for our nation.”
Navy Adm. William McRaven
Former commander of US Special Operations Command under Obama
Interview with MSNBC on June 5
“You’re not going to use, whether it’s the military, or the National Guard, or law enforcement, to clear peaceful American citizens for the President of the United States to do a photo op. There is nothing morally right about that.”
Navy Adm. James Stavridis
Former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO
Commentary published by Time on June 3
“Our active duty military must remain above the fray of domestic politics, and the best way to do that is to keep that force focused on its rightful mission outside the United States. Our senior active duty military leaders must make that case forcefully and directly to national leadership, speaking truth to power in uncomfortable ways. They must do this at the risk of their career. I hope they will do so, and not allow the military to be dragged into the maelstrom that is ahead of us, and which will likely only accelerate between now and November. If they do not stand and deliver on this vital core value, I fear for the soul of our military and all of the attendant consequences.”
Army Gen. Raymond A. “Tony” Thomas
Former commander of US Special Operations Command under Obama and Trump
Twitter, June 1
On Esper’s use of the term “battlespace” when discussing quelling violence on the streets amid civil unrest: “The ‘battle space’ of America??? Not what America needs to hear…ever, unless we are invaded by an adversary or experience a constitutional failure…ie a Civil War…”
Air Force Gen. Mike Hayden
Former director of the CIA and NSA under Bush and Obama
Twitter, June 2
On Milley joining Trump for his walk in front of the White House after protesters were cleared: “I was appalled to see him in his battle dress. Milley (he’s a general?!?) should not have walked over to the church with Trump.”
Ash Carter
Former Defense Secretary under Obama
Statement on June 5
“The Department of Defense exists to safeguard our citizens, not dominate them. I was dismayed to see DoD drawn inappropriately this week into the President’s response to protests. There is here no need, no warrant, and no excuse to bring active-duty military force into the restoration of order. I say this as a former Secretary of Defense who death with many situations where military intervention was helpful, even vital, in the homeland — past epidemics, hurricanes and floods, and so forth. Equally abhorrent to me was the inclusion of defense leaders in political theater.”
Leon Panetta and Chuck Hagel
Former defense secretaries under Obama
Joined Carter and 86 other former defense officials in Washington Post open letter on June 5
“As former leaders in the Defense Department — civilian and military, Republican, Democrat and independent — we all took an oath upon assuming office ‘to support and defend the Constitution of the United States’ as did the president and all members of the military, a fact that Gen. Milley pointed out in a recent memorandum to members of the armed forces. We are alarmed at how the president is betraying this oath by threatening to order members of the U.S. military to violate the rights of their fellow Americans.”
Stiffing Sub Contractors - The Little Guys
Donald Trump Got a Tax Break For Stiffing Contractors
"A lot has already been written about the fact that Trump’s multiple bankruptcies stiffed a long-list of small businesses, from carpet suppliers to chandelier distributors to cabinet-makers for slot machines. What hasn’t been reported before is that those unpaid bills were also used to swell Trump’s future tax deductions. In other words, Trump not only stiffed many contractors, he also created a tax benefit off the backs of the tradesmen who built his casinos and skyscrapers."
Click to read the full story.
https://fortune.com/2016/10/08/donald-trump-taxes-contractors/
Tale of Two Presidents. WWI Army Veteran Harry Truman, not a wealthy guy, went broke but paid off his creditors over twenty years and suffered greatly. Trump, a very rich guy, went bankrupt, stiffed his contractors, and got a big tax break.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2015/11/20/donald-trump-harry-truman-and-how-bankruptcy-has-changed/76129568/
Is this a great country, or what?
Military Veterans Part of the Assault on the Capital
Cheney: Trump ‘summoned the mob, assembled the mob and lit the flame of this attack’
Nearly 1 In 5 Defendants In Capitol Riot Cases Served In The Military
https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/3518354-cheney-trump-summoned-the-mob-assembled-the-mob-and-lit-the-flame-of-this-attack/
Military veteran who stormed Capitol with loaded pistol is sentenced to 7 years in prison
A retired four-star Marine general on Wednesday excoriated President Donald Trump’s threats to use the military on protesters and his controversial church photo op on Monday, writing that his actions “may well signal the beginning of the end of the American experiment.”
Gen. John Allen, the former commander of American forces in Afghanistan and former special presidential envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIS under the Obama administration, wrote in an op-ed for Foreign Policy that “to even the casual observer, Monday was awful for the United States and its democracy.”
His comments come after the President declared himself “your president of law and order” as peaceful protesters just outside the White House gates were dispersed with gas, flash bangs and rubber bullets, apparently so Trump could visit a nearby church. He remained at the boarded-up building for a matter of minutes before returning to the White House.
The episode followed nearly a week of protests across the country that at times have turned violent over the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American man who died while in police custody in Minneapolis.
“Donald Trump isn’t religious, has no need of religion, and doesn’t care about the devout, except insofar as they serve his political needs. The President failed to project any of the higher emotions or leadership desperately needed in every quarter of this nation during this dire moment,” Allen wrote.
“We know why he did all this on Monday. He even said so while holding the Bible and standing in front of the church. It was about MAGA—’making America great again,’” he continued.
Allen told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Thursday that he watched Monday’s events unfold “with horror, frankly.”
“That is what happens in authoritarian regimes. That is what happens in illiberal regimes” he continued. “It doesn’t happen in the United States, and we shouldn’t tolerate it.”
Jury finds Trump liable for sexual abuse, awards accuser $5M
NEW YORK (AP) — A jury found Donald Trump liable Tuesday for sexually abusing advice columnist E. Jean Carroll in 1996, awarding her $5 million in a judgment that could haunt the former president as he campaigns to regain the White House.
The verdict was split: Jurors rejected Carroll’s claim that she was raped, finding Trump responsible for a lesser degree of sexual abuse. The judgment adds to Trump’s legal woes and offers vindication to Carroll, whose allegations had been mocked and dismissed by Trump for years.
https://apnews.com/article/trump-rape-carroll-trial-fe68259a4b98bb3947d42af9ec83d7db
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)
"What can I add that has not already been said?” (Marine General) Kelly said, when asked if he wanted to weigh in on his former boss in...
Donald Trump, on his social-media network, Truth Social, wrote that Mark Milley’s phone call to reassure China in the aftermath of the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021, was “an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH.” (The phone call was, in fact, explicitly authorized by Trump-administration officials.)
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/09/trump-milley-execution-incitement-violence/675435/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Thumbs Up! Political Fundraising at Arlington Cemetery Over Graves Trump campaign staff had altercation with official at ... NPR https://...
-
“It’s the equivalent of the congressional Medal of Honor,” Trump said of the civilian Medal of Freedom. “But the civilian version, it’s...
-
Cheney: Trump ‘summoned the mob, assembled the mob and lit the flame of this attack’ https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/3518354-...
