“Enemy Within”: Trump’s Generals Turn Against Him

21st October 2024

3 minutes read

"Enemy Within": Trump's Generals Turn Against Him

Former U.S. President Donald Trump‘s remarks about using the military to deal with “the enemy within” have sparked concerns among military generals.

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The American CNN network published excerpts from journalist Bob Woodward’s new book War, which included clear warnings from senior military leaders who served under Trump during his first term regarding a potential second term win.

According to the book, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, warned that the former president “is the most dangerous person to this country, and he is fascist to the core.”

During his appearance on the The Fortress podcast, Woodward said that General James Mattis, who served as Secretary of Defense under Trump, sent him an email stating that he agreed with General Milley’s assessment.

Trump‘s suggestion to use the U.S. military to handle “the enemy within” on election day raised concerns about what he might request from the United States forces should he win a second term as Commander-in-Chief.

During his first term, Trump appointed several generals, such as Mattis, who led the Department of Defense, and retired General John Kelly as White House Chief of Staff. He also had two National Security Advisors: Michael Flynn and H.R. McMaster.

Trump had a penchant for military parades and called for a massive display of military might akin to Kremlin-style parades in Washington during his term, though it never materialized.

Despite Trump‘s close relationship with the military, retired army and navy generals did not always reciprocate the sentiment. In fact, some of them believe that the former president is the real “enemy within.”

Mattis said in a statement to The Atlantic four years ago: “Donald Trump is the first American president I have ever seen who does not try to unite the people, nor even pretends to try. On the contrary, he tries to divide us.”

Kelly told CNN last year that Trump “despises our democratic institutions, the Constitution, and the rule of law.”

In his book War Against Ourselves, where he recounts his memories of serving in the White House under Trump, McMaster wrote that after Trump‘s defeat in the 2020 election, “his ego and self-love drove him to abandon his oath to ‘support and defend the Constitution,’ the highest obligation of a president.”

General Stanley McChrystal, who restructured the Joint Special Operations Command, the unit responsible for killing Osama bin Laden, the leader of the terrorist group al-Qaeda in 2011, wrote in a New York Times opinion piece three weeks ago that he would vote for Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris because of “her character.”

The report notes that it is “hard to imagine any other U.S. president who has been denounced by as many senior officers as Trump. The number of top officers who criticized Trump is five times the number of those who supported him, with approximately 255 officers against 54.”

The report concludes that if Trump wins the upcoming election on November 5, he will not become Commander-in-Chief until January 20, so he cannot order the U.S. military to do anything on election day. However, if he wins the White House, as Commander-in-Chief, he can instruct the Pentagon to do almost anything.