| In which the Daily Mail helps market A Very Stable Genius, written in high indignation by a pair of Washington Post reporters and set to appear in bookstores next week. |
WaPo? I call Bullshit from the start
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] - Dramatic details of how Donald Trump ranted against his most senior generals is revealed in new book
- He spewed abuse at meeting chaired by Marine General Joe Dunford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, saying: 'You're all losers'
| Mattis organized the sit-down six months into the Trump administration because of mounting concerns he shared with Tillerson and Gary Cohn, then the chief economic adviser, about Trump's knowledge of history, and in particular post-war alliances. |
- Sitting beside combat veteran Dunford was his deputy Paul Selva, a four star air force general who flew transport aircraft
- He accused one general who was not present - John Nicholson, in charge of combat in Afghanistan - of not knowing how to win
- Book claims he could barely breathe as he vented with rage, demanding South Korea pay for U.S. military bases
- Rex Tillerson, then Secretary of State, whose family included career officers, intervened to shut Trump down
- He accused Trump of wanting to turn U.S. forces into mercenaries and said they don't join up 'to make a buck,' saying: They do it to protect our freedom.'
- After Trump stormed out of the room Tillerson - the son of a combat veteran - turned to the group and called him a 'f***ing moron'
The president was reacting to a tailored tutorial his then officials - Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, Director of the National Economic Council Gary Cohn, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson - arranged for him in room 2E924 of the Pentagon - know as 'The Tank.'
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Joseph F. Dunford Jr., was in the main seat, in front of a painting of Lincoln meeting with his generals Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman and Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter.
Around the table were then deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, the heads of the branches of the military and Vice President Mike Pence.
A strategy session apparently devoid of those who have actually been formulating the national strategy for decades.
It was very early in his first term. Sixteen years of failure very likely brought on a massive amount of frustration for Trump. He would soon learn that the military had little to do with actual outcomes in AFG and Iraq, or anywhere else for that matter.
The room was lined with other staff officers and White House aides. They included Sean Spicer, then press secretary, Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, and Reince Priebus, then chief of staff.
The sit-down took place six months into the Trump administration. Mattis organized it because of mounting concerns he shared with Tillerson and Gary Cohn, then the chief economic adviser, about Trump's knowledge of history, and in particular post-war alliances.
| How insulting. And involving the entire staff, too. That’s not how to bring the boss up to speed. They’re lucky he didn’t fire them all on the spot. |
It started with Mattis giving a presentation in front of a screen saying: 'The post-war international rules-based order is the greatest gift of the greatest generation.'
He railed against General John Nicholson, in charge of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, saying: 'I don't think he knows how to win.'
The general was not at the meeting and Dunford tried to defend him, saying they were following orders on how to leave Afghanistan.
| They said that?? I’m surprised flames didn’t burst from President Trump’s eyes and roast them on the spot. |
The authors say the participants 'felt sick to their stomachs' at the president's words. Tillerson later said he saw one female officer silently crying.
| Great big soldier (etc. It’s a general category here) boys and girls got tummy aches from a little shouting? Quick, someone build them a safe room with colouring books, Playdough, and kittens! |
He said of the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, from which he would later withdraw the United States: 'It's the worst deal in history!'
Tillerson tried to talk to him about that. 'I don't want to hear it,' the president responded.
'They're cheating. They're building. We're getting out of it. I keep telling you, I keep giving you time, and you keep delaying me. I want out of it.'
Those at the meeting were astonished that Mike Pence did not intervene to stop Trump but instead sat there 'like a wax museum guy.'
| They thought he should intervene on their side? But it was between the president and his staff — Vice President Pence was only in the room so that he’d be up to speed in case he was suddenly promoted. |
Shortly after that the meeting ended.
After Trump left the room, Tillerson spoke up again: 'He's a f***ing moron,' he said of Trump.
| Mr. Tillerson was CEO of ExxonMobile for eleven years. He knows you never, ever badmouth the boss in front of staff — and he was Secretary of State, not Defense, so they weren’t even his own staff. There is no excuse whatsoever for him deliberately undercutting the president of the United States.. |
In contrast Trump said tersely to reporters that the meeting was 'absolutely great' and when asked if he was going to make a decision on cutting troop numbers in Afghanistan brushed it off saying: 'You'll be hearing.'
Then he tweeted a video of himself and Pence shaking hands with members of the military in the Pentagon, with the audio cut to make way for 'I'm proud to be an American.' Mattis was only fleetingly visible.
| Good Management 101: correct in private, praise in public. |
Tillerson was to attack Trump again on the issue of foreign allies paying for U.S. military presence on their territory at a White House Situation Room meeting where Trump demanded money.
Tillerson stood up, turned his back on the president, and turned to uniformed officers and other staff to say how the country valued their service and knew 'they don't do it to make a buck.'
In March the following year, Tillerson was fired while he was on a diplomatic tour of Africa. 
|
It started with Mattis giving a presentation in front of a screen saying: 'The post-war international rules-based order is the greatest gift of the greatest generation.'