General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe real reason Trump is furious with General Milley.
Trump believes in surprise attack, even in nuclear war, especially if he sees advantage to him in being a "wartime president," and he thinks Milley betrayed him personally (not the country). I think it was in the first year of Trump's reign, or even right before the election, he was having a sit-down interview, and he was asked a question about attacking another country. There has been no very much outrage in the last 5 years I don't remember the exact details or the interviewer, but Trump conversationally but seriously refused to say what he would do because he doesn't believe in giving the other side any advantage in knowing what to expect from him. I said to whoever I was with and said, "he believes in a surprise first strike and he's the decider." They poo poo'd it saying no one would let him do that, but I think we almost did.
The fact that right now our military leaders have informal contact with their counterparts to help avoid misunderstandings probably hadn't occurred to Trump because everything is zero sum to him, I win, you lose. To find this out months later really burns him and if he could, he'd have Milley shot by a firing squad because he takes it personally.
BigmanPigman
(51,591 posts)could/would start a war with another country for various reasons. I knew that he was capable of doing such a thing to save his ass.
GopherGal
(2,008 posts)Then again, pretty much all of the GOP seemed to forget that fact for four years, including and especially a bunch of elected officials who took such an oath...
Irish_Dem
(47,057 posts)The idea of being loyal to something else does not compute.
dewsgirl
(14,961 posts)I believe Bill O'Reilly on a separate occasion.
Jarqui
(10,125 posts)trying to control the military and use force to take over.
And that would allow him to avoid the potential criminal charges being compiled.
When the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff reminds his soldiers "your duty is to uphold the Constitution", that becomes a moat Trump can't cross. And that meant Trump had to face potentially being held to account for his criminal actions.
Option #1 - was to win the election - but he lost
Option #2 - was to throw a legal wrench into the results but he went 0-60+ in those cases.
Option #3 - was to mess with Jan 6 acceptance of election results in the Capitol - another Trump failure
Option #4 - was to try to utilize the military to take over - Milley was in the way
Option #5 - start a nuclear war - Milley was in the way.
There were probably more options these desperate crooks considered while they had the reigns of power.
They came so close, the GOP are passing laws in various states so they have a better chance of hijacking the electoral votes next time.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)He's simply furious with anyone who doesn't kneel before him.
Your highness, when I said that you are like a stream of bat's piss, I only mean that you shine out like a shaft of gold when all around it is dark.
(A little bit of Monty Python always captures trump in his most natural state)
Rhiannon12866
(205,327 posts)He has no vision, does not think of what's good for the people or the country. That's why he ignored the pandemic. Nothing matters to him unless it affects him personally.
gab13by13
(21,337 posts)even mad dog Mattis chose to resign rather than take Trump on. Kelly was another one who couldn't handle Trump.
lunatica
(53,410 posts)that if we have nuclear weapons why wouldnt we use them. He also thought it would be good to use them against nature too, like on hurricanes.
LastLiberal in PalmSprings
(12,586 posts)This was reported on Aug 3, 2016, before the election was even held.
Donald Trump asked a foreign policy expert advising him why the U.S. cant use nuclear weapons, MSNBCs Joe Scarborough said on the air Wednesday, citing an unnamed source who claimed he had spoken with the GOP presidential nominee.
Several months ago, a foreign policy expert on the international level went to advise Donald Trump. And three times [Trump] asked about the use of nuclear weapons. Three times he asked at one point if we had them why cant we use them, Scarborough said on his Morning Joe program.
Scarborough made the Trump comments 52 seconds into an interview with former Director of Central Intelligence and ex-National Security Agency Director Michael Hayden.
* * *
Scarborough then asked a hypothetical question to Hayden about how quickly nuclear weapons could be deployed if a president were to give approval.
Its scenario dependent, but the system is designed for speed and decisiveness. Its not designed to debate the decision, Hayden said.
spanone
(135,831 posts)NullTuples
(6,017 posts)Checks, balances, safety mechanisms...not really his thing.
Irish_Dem
(47,057 posts)The scary secrets are coming out, one by one.