Trump wanted 'the kind of generals that Hitler had' while in White House, claims bombshell report

WASHINGTON, DC: Donald Trump once said he needed “the kind of generals that Hitler had” during his time in the White House, according to a new bombshell report.

It’s a claim that digs into the former president’s alleged views on the military - and his reported comments have stirred up a lot of controversy.

According to Trump’s former chief of staff John Kelly, the former real estate and entertainment mogul fits the mold of a “fascist.”

Trump’s alleged comments about Hitler’s generals

The claims about Trump’s alleged comment come from The Atlantic, which reported that Trump privately said: “I need the kind of generals that Hitler had.”

According to the outlet, he made this remark in the White House — citing two sources who claimed to have heard it firsthand. Trump reportedly explained that he was looking for “people who were totally loyal to him, that follow orders.”

Of course, Trump’s team wasn’t having it. His campaign spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer pushed back hard, telling The Independent: “This is absolutely false, President Trump never said this.”

John Kelly, who served as Trump’s chief of staff, didn’t hold back when describing the latter's leadership style. In a recent interview with The New York Times, Kelly said Trump checks the boxes of a fascist and that he’d probably act like a dictator if he got a second term.

“Looking at the definition of fascism: It’s a far-right authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology and movement characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy,” he told the newspaper.

“In my experience, those are the kinds of things that he thinks would work better in terms of running America," Kelly insisted.

Kelly didn’t stop there. He argued that Trump’s past remarks about using the military to deal with what he called the “enemy within” were so troubling that he felt the need to speak out publicly.

He even recalled a conversation where the former president reportedly asked him, “Why can’t you be like the German generals?” - a claim detailed in Peter Baker and Susan Glasser’s book 'The Divider: Trump in the White House'.

Did Trump praise Hitler's leadership?

John Kelly said he reminded Trump that many German generals actually "tried to kill Hitler three times and almost pulled it off," to which Trump allegedly responded, “No, no, no, they were totally loyal to him.”

In another interview, Kelly claimed to CNN’s Jim Sciutto that Trump had tried to praise aspects of Hitler’s leadership at one point. Kelly recalled Trump saying, “Well, but Hitler did some good things.”

“I said, ‘Well, what?’ And he said, ‘Well, (Hitler) rebuilt the economy.’ But what did he do with that rebuilt economy? He turned it against his own people and against the world," Kelly recounted, adding, “I said, ‘Sir, you can never say anything good about the guy. Nothing.’”

Following the latest bombshells from The Atlantic, The Independent reached out to Trump’s team for their take on the situation. Campaign spokesperson Pfeiffer painted a very different picture of Trump’s relationship with the military.

“President Donald Trump has spent his life caring for America's military heroes,” Pfeiffer said in a statement to the outlet. “As President, he kept our troops out of harm’s way, secured the largest pay raise for our troops in a decade, and signed historic VA reforms.

"As a private citizen, he has financially supported veterans and has forcefully advocated for the Kabul Gold Star families. There has been no greater advocate for our brave military men and women than Donald J. Trump," he added.

2020 report on Trump’s attitude toward the military

This isn’t the first time that The Atlantic has called into question Trump’s feelings about the military. Back in 2020, the outlet published a report claiming that Trump made disparaging remarks about military personnel.

One of the most shocking claims once again came from Kelly, who recalled a conversation on Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery in 2017. As they stood among the graves of fallen soldiers, Trump allegedly turned to Kelly and said, “I don’t get it, what’s in it for them?”

Kelly also shared other troubling anecdotes, like Trump allegedly dismissing veterans such as John McCain and George H.W. Bush seemingly because they had been captured during their service. Furthermore, Kelly claimed that Trump thought military amputees were a bad look and didn’t want to be seen with them.

It's worth noting that Trump has vehemently denied these claims before.