Althouse: "Speaking at a combative White House news conference, Trump said leaders at the Pentagon probably weren’t 'in love with me' because 'they want to do nothing but fight wars...'"

September 7, 2020

"Speaking at a combative White House news conference, Trump said leaders at the Pentagon probably weren’t 'in love with me' because 'they want to do nothing but fight wars...'"

"'... so that all of those wonderful companies that make the bombs and make the planes and make everything else stay happy. Some people don’t like to come home, some people like to continue to spend money.... One cold-hearted globalist betrayal after another, that’s what it was.' He asserted that while U.S. troops largely support him, he does not receive the same affinity from the top. He made the comment as he advocated for the removal of American troops from 'endless wars' and lambasted NATO allies who 'rip us off.' The remarks come after The Atlantic reported that Trump disparaged American troops as 'suckers' and 'losers' for dying in battle.... During his Monday news conference, Trump repeated [his] denials, saying that 'only an animal would say a thing like that.'... The White House later elaborated on Trump‘s comments, saying that a number of politicians and Pentagon officials had been unwilling to pull out of the United States’ 'endless' wars and that Trump stood with soldiers and generals who want to end those conflicts...."

From "Trump says Pentagon chiefs are accommodating weapons makers/'One cold-hearted globalist betrayal after another, that’s what it was,' the president says in talking about '“endless wars'" (Politico).

55 comments:

Michael K said...: He's right, of course. The old Royal Navy cheer for "Bloody wars and sickly seasons" as the route to promotion.

It would also be interesting to learn what the hell is going on a Ft Hood.; 9/7/20, 8:51 PM
mockturtle said...: He's right. Of course.; 9/7/20, 8:56 PM
robother said...: Hmm, seems like I remember at least one general who agreed with Trump, warned about a "military-industrial complex" getting control of our policy. Can't recall his name, probably never accomplished much.; 9/7/20, 8:56 PM
Yancey Ward said...: If you had read in October 2001 a claim that the new US campaign in Afghanistan would still be going on in September of 2020, you surely would have ridiculed the idea, wouldn't you? If you had read that the US would eventually have troops fighting in Iraq and Syria, and would remove the governments of Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya, you would have ridiculed the idea, wouldn't you?

Trump's instincts on all of this are spot on, he needs to damn the torpedoes and follow through. Sure, the generals will hate his guts as will all the people sucking the tits of the war industry.; 9/7/20, 9:07 PM
traditionalguy said...: The old favorites Dylan’s Masters of War and Catch 22 were big items when Trump was 20. And he still believes they described real life.; 9/7/20, 9:10 PM
Nick said...: As has been brought up elsewhere:

These people act like Eisenhower never made the "Military-industiral Complex" Speech.; 9/7/20, 9:16 PM
Limited blogger said...: Some of Trump's best stuff, if you ask me.; 9/7/20, 9:27 PM
mockturtle said...: Michael K wonders about Ft. Hood. So do I. They've got some 'splainin' to do. Good news is they are being investigated. Bad news is it's the Army doing the investigation.; 9/7/20, 9:28 PM
I'm Not Sure said...: "Hmm, seems like I remember at least one general who agreed with Trump, warned about a "military-industrial complex" getting control of our policy. Can't recall his name, probably never accomplished much."

More than one, for sure. Major General Smedley Darlington Butler:

"War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small 'inside' group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes."

"I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested. Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents."; 9/7/20, 9:32 PM
JPS said...: Let's see, which is likelier: That Trump said these things, or that people who hate him would make up something like this in the hope of its damaging him?

Late October's going to be interesting, isn't it?; 9/7/20, 9:47 PM
Big Mike said...: A controversy ginned up out of whole cloth by desperate liars.; 9/7/20, 9:52 PM
Ken B said...: Lefties used to recite Eisenhower's speech. Now it’s heresy.; 9/7/20, 9:59 PM
iowan2 said...: After getting lectured by leftists, about the constitution and federalism, its good to be back in familiar territory of ignoring the constitutional structure of our Republic.

Civilian control of the military is in the constitution for a reason. President Trump is illuminating that reason. Lots of varying interests interests are very scared. Lots of revenue streams are drying up.
As already noted, it was not a civilian that warned of the military/industrial complex.
But it is taking a civilian to heed the warning.; 9/7/20, 10:13 PM
Rory said...: "Blood is a big expense." - Virgil Sollozzo; 9/7/20, 10:24 PM
William said...: His remarks here have particular credibility because they are made by an American President who prefers to win and who is irredeemably pro-American. Some of those remarks could have been uttered by AOC or Joan Baez, and I would not have believed them. Coming from Trump, I think yeah, maybe he's on to something.....I wonder if anybody on the left will say something supportive of them or if they will feel it necessary to belittle his remarks. The left, because of Trump, have rallied behind the FBI and the CIA and intelligence agency surveillance of American citizens. Maybe now they will be supportive of the Pentagon and foreign wars.; 9/7/20, 10:44 PM
rcocean said...: Actually the best part of the press conference, was the dumbshit reporter (it was Mason, the same clown who asked Grenfell about Gays instead of the Balkans peace accord) who refused to remove his mask. Trump told him to take it off, since he couldn't hear his question and Mason was 12 feet from Trump, outdoors, and 8 feet from another reporter. Mason, refused. That'll show the POTUS, he thought.

I love this Press ass-clowns, showing themselves to be complete fools and dinks.; 9/7/20, 11:01 PM
Phil 314 said...: Trump can never put down the shovel.; 9/7/20, 11:03 PM
rcocean said...: Trump is simply telling the truth. Generals like wars, it get them promotions, and business for the Military-Industrial complex, which hires the Generals after they retire. Even worse, many of these Generals get cushy lobbyist jobs for foreign companies and foreign countries.

I don't see why lawyers, Pols, and Bureaucrats should get all the cushy lobbyists jobs. But too many of these Generals are Globalists in uniform, and don't seem to know their place. For once, the Republican Presidential candidate will be the Dove, and the Democrat the Hawk.; 9/7/20, 11:05 PM
rcocean said...: goldberg the man who wrote the lying Atlantic piece is married to a former Hillary Clinton aide who donated large amounts of $$ to the Hillary campaign. The Atlantic is NOT an objective news magazine, its a left-wing opinion magazine. Goldberg hates Trump and has lied about him before.

But yeah, lets just ignore that and act like its credible. LOL!; 9/7/20, 11:08 PM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: ...Trump repeated [his] denials...

So based on current journalistic standards, we have confirmation that he didn't say it.; 9/7/20, 11:23 PM
Sprezzatura said...: Am I a time traveler? It looks like I bumped forward more than four years.

According to DJT and the stable geniuses in this thread it’s 2025 and DJT is an out of office bystander after his (well deserved) 2020 reelection. Such a shame that we (in 2025) can’t have a third DJT term so that this issue re military spending could be fixed (in an hour, or re the third inauguration ceremony, or whatever it is that DJT promises us in this 2025 “reality”).

Carry on.; 9/7/20, 11:52 PM
Mal said...: Maureen Dowd spotting this four years ago when she wrote "Donald the Dove, Hillary the Hawk."

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/01/opinion/sunday/donald-the-dove-hillary-the-hawk.html

In that article, Dowd quotes Trump's own word:

“Unlike other candidates for the presidency, war and aggression will not be my first instinct,” he said in his maiden foreign policy speech in Washington last week, adding, “A superpower understands that caution and restraint are really truly signs of strength.”

Dowd even passes along David Axelrod's analysis that Trump is "a sheep in wolf’s clothing."

The only surprise is that it proved true.; 9/8/20, 12:33 AM
Nichevo said...: And Robert Cook would eat a live grenade before he gave President Trump one iota of credit for this.; 9/8/20, 1:08 AM
JMW Turner said...: Aside from the continued sullying of Trump's solid relationship with the rank and file military troops over unreliable hearsay, the principal accomplishment of the Democratic allied press has been demonstrated in the vicious firefight on this blog's comment section. Divide and conquer the proles!; 9/8/20, 1:35 AM
Earnest Prole said...: If that doesn't earn Noam Chomsky's vote nothing can.; 9/8/20, 2:37 AM
Kevin said...: Peace sells ... but the Media’s Not Buying as Long as Trump’s in Office.; 9/8/20, 5:18 AM
Big Mike said...: I wonder if anybody on the left will say something supportive of them or if they will feel it necessary to belittle his remarks.

@William, the experiment has been run numerous times. People take remarks made by Donald Trump imply that they were made by Barack Obama or Joe Biden or Hillary Clinton or some other prominent Democrat, and ask college students or BLM protesters whether they agree. Uniformly they support Trump’s words — but only when they think a Democrat said them.; 9/8/20, 5:54 AM
Paul Snively said...: I have to admit, I didn’t expect the Republican Party to be on the right side of Eisenhower’s warning about the military-industrial complex and the Democratic Party to be on the wrong side of Eisenhower’s warning about technocrats. But here we are.; 9/8/20, 5:57 AM
stevew said...: Try as they may, and mightily so, they keep flinging this shit at the wall hoping it will damage Trump. And it does not. Now it's the military they are working to turn against him. Perhaps in preparation for the coup they will attempt in November?; 9/8/20, 6:10 AM
wendybar said...: He's not wrong. You would think the left would love him since they USED to be anti war too!!! I wonder why they aren't anymore??; 9/8/20, 6:27 AM
tim in vermont said...: Impeachment was about this. The first time Ukraine heard about the weapons money being delayed was a phone call from a weapons manufacturer.; 9/8/20, 7:17 AM
tim in vermont said...: Waiting for Left Bank and John Althouse Cohen to come in here and tear that speech up. Biden is the candidate of the military industrial complex. If the press drags him over the line, I hope they enjoy covering the wars. Gotta be kinda dull for these people with Trump in place not sending kids to fight, kill, and die.; 9/8/20, 7:19 AM
Drago said...: iowan2: "As already noted, it was not a civilian that warned of the military/industrial complex.
But it is taking a civilian to heed the warning."

Its important to note that Ike intended to speak of the Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex, but his advisors convinced him to remove Congress from the speech since it was an election year.; 9/8/20, 7:21 AM
tim in vermont said...: The cold hearted globalists want their guy back in the White House. So does Xi. They want their hands back on those levers of power.

It’s amazing to me that so many people who claim to be against war support Biden. What they really want is to tell themselves that they are against war so they flush their votes down the toilet on some third party candidate when they have the real deal anti-war POTUS right here in Trump. If you are anti-war and you vote third party, it’s a vote for Biden and the war mongering cabal, end of story.; 9/8/20, 7:35 AM
iowan2 said...: I have to admit, I didn’t expect the Republican Party to be on the right side of Eisenhower’s warning about the military-industrial complex

Republicans aren't on the right side. Conservatives are. President Trump doesn't give a shit about the military-industrial complex, he cares that we are paying for it with lives. What do you suppose all the never Trumpers are scared of? Loss of income stream.; 9/8/20, 7:38 AM
Rusty said...: Wendybar.
Graft. Democrats have always been pro war as long as they could be percieved to be against it because war is lucrative. Trump has changed all that and it interrupts the flow of graft. The elite hate that.; 9/8/20, 7:42 AM
Skeptical Voter said...: So Trump is not loved by the Perfumed Political Princes of the Pentagon. It's like not being loved by the Mean Girls at the Cool Table in the high school cafeteria.

It's also not anything that I'm going to lose sleep over. As for the Democrats slinging cow poo from "anonymous sources", it's same poo different day.; 9/8/20, 7:49 AM
tim in vermont said...: The fact that Goldberg admitted that he got the central fact of the story, the fact they led with, wrong, carries no weight with the lefties here, I am guessing.

Just one more Goldberg lie, like Saddam working with bin Laden. All in the service of the weapons manufacturers these lies. That war killed 100,000. These kinds of mind viruses that are pushed by these tools of the Daddy Warbucks of this world kill as many as real viruses.; 9/8/20, 7:51 AM
tim in vermont said...: "I wonder why they aren't anymore??”

Because they were not against war, they were on the other side.; 9/8/20, 7:51 AM
tim in vermont said...: "I have to admit, I didn’t expect the Republican Party to be on the right side of Eisenhower’s warning about the military-industrial complex and the Democratic Party to be on the wrong side of Eisenhower’s warning about technocrats. But here we are.”

The clues have been there all along. What do you think impeachment was really about? A couple week delay in sending weapons money that never approached the legal deadline? Really?

Can you imagine Biden in a press conference where they called him out on all of his contradictory statements? No. Won’t happen. That’s why the billionaire left bought all of those magazines and newspapers. So Biden wouldn’t face scrutiny. The real discussions take place behind closed doors, and Americans never hear about them or get to participate.; 9/8/20, 8:16 AM
Michael K said...: Republicans aren't on the right side. Conservatives are. President Trump doesn't give a shit about the military-industrial complex, he cares that we are paying for it with lives. What do you suppose all the never Trumpers are scared of? Loss of income stream.

Key fact and why the military is unreliable above O-6.; 9/8/20, 8:43 AM
JMW Turner said...: If Biden and his Globalist Warmongers obtain the White House, I would discourage any young man or woman I know from joining the militarily, becoming the next administration's cannon fodder. Trump and Rand Paul have something in common besides tangentially belonging to the Republican Party.; 9/8/20, 8:57 AM
PatHMV said...: Always fascinating to watch the left attack President Trump over an issue that the left thinks will weaken Trump with his "base," even though the same lefties would cheer Biden or Harris if one of them made virtually identical statements.; 9/8/20, 9:20 AM
Greg The Class Traitor said...: PatHMV said...
Always fascinating to watch the left attack President Trump over an issue that the left thinks will weaken Trump with his "base," even though the same lefties would cheer Biden or Harris if one of them made virtually identical statements.

This. Very much this.

From the Right, I offer no support to corrupt politicians in uniform who are preparing to feather their nests by sucking up to companies that will give them a nice retirement once they leave office. SO I have no problem with the essence of what Trump said there.

From the Left, with their supposed hatred of the military industrial complex, they shoudl be loving what Trump said, and what Trump's done.

But it appears, instead, that they've decided to get on the military industrial complex gravy train.; 9/8/20, 9:58 AM
Jason said...: Skeptical Voter: So Trump is not loved by the Perfumed Political Princes of the Pentagon.

DAVID HACKWORTH YOU MAGNIFICENT BASTARD!; 9/8/20, 10:01 AM
mockturtle said...: I can foresee a Seven Days in May event in 2021.; 9/8/20, 10:10 AM
Narayanan said...: Mal said...
Maureen Dowd spotting this four years ago when she wrote "Donald the Dove, Hillary the Hawk."

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/01/opinion/sunday/donald-the-dove-hillary-the-hawk.html

In that article, Dowd quotes Trump's own word:

“Unlike other candidates for the presidency, war and aggression will not be my first instinct,” he said in his maiden foreign policy speech in Washington last week, adding, “A superpower understands that caution and restraint are really truly signs of strength.”

Dowd even passes along David Axelrod's analysis that Trump is "a sheep in wolf’s clothing."
----------============
a sheep who refuses to be harried by dogs; 9/8/20, 10:52 AM
n.n said...: Neither the military nor the far more socially, politically, and economically lucrative social industrial complex.; 9/8/20, 10:53 AM
Narayanan said...: Drago said...
iowan2: "As already noted, it was not a civilian that warned of the military/industrial complex.
But it is taking a civilian to heed the warning."

Its important to note that Ike intended to speak of the Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex, but his advisors convinced him to remove Congress from the speech since it was an election year.
------------=============
when did it become known that "Congressional" was removed and what became of the advisors who convinced him?

do you know? how do I find out? is it worthy of research project? (in retirement?); 9/8/20, 11:05 AM
Martin said...: What is a General or Admiral to do after retirement if not get a sweet sinecure at General Dynamics or Lockheed Martin?

And if you think te revolving door doesn't affect budget and procurement decisons, if (maybe) not going to war, think again.; 9/8/20, 11:23 AM
Narayanan said...: Rory said...
"Blood is a big expense." - Virgil Sollozzo
-----------=============
so i googlooked Virgil Sollozzo

drugs as therapeuticals for Trump [refusing to get into the arms trade] vs drugs (as recreational) for Congress DC -; 9/8/20, 11:37 AM
hstad said...: So the way I read the Press reporting because of their hatred for Mr. Trump, the Press have thrown out all of their previous decades and decades of anti-war [anti-Pentagon] coverage prior to Mr. Trump being elected. Given this continuous barrage of "Orange Man Bad" press coverage it is truly amazing the Mr. Trump is still going to win in November by a landslide. It exhibits the Press' hatred for Mr. Trump and the Voters. Progressives/Elites are on the run!

T; 9/8/20, 12:11 PM
tim in vermont said...: "David Axelrod's analysis that Trump is 'a sheep in wolf’s clothing.’"

Trump didn’t put on wolf’s clothing, the press painted that on him. He has always been a peacenik.; 9/8/20, 12:38 PM
MikeD said...: Late to the party but, Zuckerberg & The Atlantic are walking back on the story.; 9/8/20, 1:27 PM
minnesota farm guy said...: To buttress "I'm not sure's" comment: Major General Smedley Butler at the time of his death was the most decorated Marine in US history. He was awarded two Medals of Honor. He fought in China, the various Banana wars and in WWI. Though he went a bit off the rails in later life because of his anti-war stance he was clearly the voice of experience regarding the intermingling of business interest with military adventurism.; 9/8/20, 2:34 PM