John Kelly tells NYT Trump said: "Hitler did some good things"
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Then-President Trump speaks to the press with then-Chief of Staff John Kelly at the White House on July 31, 2017. Photo: Mike Theiler-Pool/Getty Images
Former President Trump has on multiple occasions praised Adolf Hitler, alleged John Kelly, his longest-serving White House chief of staff, to the New York Times.
The big picture: In a series of audio interviews with the NYT, Kelly raised concerns that Trump would rule like a dictator if elected next month, said he believes the GOP presidential nominee meets the definition of a fascist and claimed that he does not have an understanding of history or the Constitution.
For the record: Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said in an emailed statement Tuesday evening that Kelly "has totally beclowned himself with these debunked stories he has fabricated."
Driving the news: Kelly claimed to the NYT that Trump told him, "Hitler did some good things" and said he could confirm previous reports that the former president spoke positively of the Nazi leader more than once.
- "Certainly the former president is in the far-right area, he's certainly an authoritarian, admires people who are dictators — he has said that. So he certainly falls into the general definition of fascist, for sure," Kelly told the NYT.
Zoom in: Kelly alleged that in his first days as Trump's chief of staff in 2017, he had to explain to the then-president that government officials had taken an oath to the Constitution and that weighed more than person loyalty.
- Kelly said it was "a big surprise for him" that "those of us who were former generals and certainly people still on active duty — that the commitment, the loyalty was to the Constitution, without question, without second thought."
- The former chief of staff also doubled down on his comments to CNN backing previous reports that Trump had labeled Americans who died in World War I "suckers" and "losers" and maintained that the former president had said this more than once.
Zoom out: In a separate interview published Tuesday, Kelly addressed a report in Peter Baker and Susan Glasser's book "The Divider" that Trump had asked him: "Why can't you be like the German generals?"
- According to the report, Kelly explained to Trump that German generals "tried to kill" the Austrian-born leader "three times and almost pulled it off." The authors report Trump insisted: "No, they were totally loyal to him."
- When asked to whom this was referring, the retired Marine general told The Atlantic, "Yeah, yeah, Hitler's generals."
What they're saying: Trump's campaign has previously denied that the GOP nominee ever said this.
- On Tuesday, Cheung added: "President Trump has always honored the service and sacrifice of all of our military men and women."
Flashback: Trump did call fallen soldiers "losers," his former chief of staff says
