A new article reveals the depth of Trump’s contempt for the US military and quotes Trump as say that he wants generals like Hitler had, and he wants a dictatorship.
Trump has frequently voiced his disdain for those who serve in the military and for their devotion to duty, honor, and sacrifice. Former generals who have worked for Trump say that the sole military virtue he prizes is obedience. As his presidency drew to a close, and in the years since, he has become more and more interested in the advantages of dictatorship, and the absolute control over the military that he believes it would deliver. “I need the kind of generals that Hitler had,” Trump said in a private conversation in the White House, according to two people who heard him say this. “People who were totally loyal to him, that follow orders.” (“This is absolutely false,” Pfeiffer wrote in an email. “President Trump never said this.”)
A desire to force U.S. military leaders to be obedient to him and not the Constitution is one of the constant themes of Trump’s military-related discourse. Former officials have also cited other recurring themes: his denigration of military service, his ignorance of the provisions of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, his admiration for brutality and anti-democratic norms of behavior, and his contempt for wounded veterans and for soldiers who fell in battle.
Trump’s contempt for the troops has long been well known, but what hasn’t been discussed is Trump’s desire to turn the military into his personal force that would allow him to keep power as a dictator.
Trump doesn’t want the miliary to be loyal to the country. The ex-president wants a military that is loyal to him. The quote about wanting generals like Hitler had will get the headlines, but it is why he admires Hitler and other dictators that is just as important.
Donald Trump intends to end democracy if he wins. The Supreme Court majority said that presidents have unchecked power, so if Trump wins there will be nothing blocking his dream of an American dictatorship.
This is not a hypothetical, or an exaggeration. Donald Trump wants to be a dictator, and only the American people have the power to stop him.
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