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Paul Sonne
A national security reporter focusing on the US military
President Trump has long placed the US military at the center of his presidential mark, calling on retired officers to advise them, touting increases in defense spending and citing support from troops and veterans as a sign of his success.
But the commander-in-chief risked alienating elements of the military community by stepping up the fight against one of his most revered members, retired admiral William H. McRaven, at the Following other recent remarks and decisions that have fueled controversy in the ranks and between served.
In an interview with Chris Wallace in Fox News Sunday, Trump takes on McRaven, retired commander of Navy SEAL and Special Operations, who oversaw the assassination of Osama bin Laden. and the capture of Saddam Hussein during his 37 years in the US Army.
Trump has been taunting McRaven as a "Hillary Clinton fan" and "Obama's backer" before suggesting that the four-star admiral, who recently left his post Chancellor of the University of Texas in the middle of a battle against chronic lymphocytic leukemia, should have taken Bin Laden faster.
"Would not it have been nice if we had Osama bin Laden much earlier than that, would not it have been nice?" Said the president. "You know, living – think about this – living in Pakistan, admirably in Pakistan, in what I suppose, they considered a beautiful mansion, I do not know, I saw more beautiful.But living in Pakistan right next to the military academy, everyone knew that he was there. "
The comments intensified a war of words that began last year when McRaven described Trump's description of the news media as "the enemy of the people" as the greatest threat to American democracy. never seen.
Last summer, McRaven fought for John Brennan, defending the former CIA director as a man of integrity in an article in the Washington Post after Trump revoked Brennan's security clearance.
In a rare moment of political candor, McRaven wrote that Trump, instead of placing others above him and giving example as president, had "embarrassed us in the eyes of our children, humiliated on the world stage and, worse yet, divided in two. we as a nation. "
In a statement originally released to CNN and confirmed by The Post, McRaven said he was not supporting Clinton or anyone in the 2016 presidential election and was a fan of Barack Obama and George W. Bush, for whom he worked for all his time. uniform.
"I admire all the presidents, regardless of their political party, who uphold the dignity of the office and use it to bring the country closer to tough times," said Mr. McRaven.
Former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morrell pointed out on Twitter McRaven's forces have nothing to do with bin Laden's whereabouts. Morrell said it was the CIA that made the "discovery" and the McRaven forces that had made the "get", which had left the city a few days after receiving the order.
The president's remarks about McRaven appeared amidst larger questions about Trump's relationship to military issues.
During a recent trip to France, the president did not attend a ceremony commemorating the centenary of the First World War because of the rain. The White House said his helicopter could not fly in bad weather and that a motorcade would have caused too much damage. traffic. Chief of Staff John F. Kelly and Navy General Joseph F. Dunford Jr., Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, attended the ceremony.
Trump did not visit Arlington National Cemetery to mark Veterans Day this year, as he was returning home from France and did not attend the ceremony or hold a public event to pay tribute to the alumni American fighters on public holiday.
Trump admitted that he should have gone to Arlington National Cemetery to celebrate Veterans Day.
"I should have done that," Trump told Wallace. "I was extremely busy with calls for the country. As you know, we phoned a lot.
Trump recently expressed his dissatisfaction with the senior retired generals who sit in his administration, raising questions about how he saddens himself in the military brass of his orbit. Earlier this year, he made fun of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, calling him a "democrat". In an interview granted on Sunday, he said that Kelly is doing some things that he does not like and that he will leave at some point from the Chief of Staff. position.
The comments followed the president's decision to place the US military at the center of a political maelstrom before the mid-term elections by sending thousands of soldiers to the Mexican border in what his critics described as political campaign to fan the anti-immigrant sentiment of its base. .
Trump said the move was a necessary step to help US border and customs services prepare for the "invasion" of thousands of migrants. According to him, without evidence, he included "unknowns from the Middle East" and "bad guys."
Before the election, Trump said he would send between 10,000 and 15,000 troops to the border, but the military said last week that the number of active-duty soldiers deployed had reached a maximum of 5,900 men. 2,000 more members of the National Guard have been there since April.
Although Mattis defended the deployment as a necessary support for the Department of Homeland Security and a good training of the troops, other members of the military community were offended by what they saw as unnecessary politicization. armed forces.
Trump's suggestion that the soldiers fired on the stones-throwing migrants prompted retired General Martin E. Dempsey, the retired Joint Chiefs president, to mark the mission as a waste, while noting that men and women in uniform would not resort to excessive force. .
Trump, who attended the New York Military Academy but avoided serving in the Vietnam War because of postponements, also answered questions Sunday about why he did not visit. to US troops serving in combat zones in Iraq or Afghanistan.
"I think you'll see it happen," said Trump. "There are things that are planned."
However, alumni and current members of the administration, who requested anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, did not recall hearing of the possibility of Trump visiting troops in Iraq, Afghanistan. or in Syria during his first year and a half. An attempt to visit the demilitarized zone between North Korea and South Korea at the end of 2017 was blocked by bad weather.
Trump has also been a strong advocate for the withdrawal of the conflicts in which US troops are deployed abroad, but Mattis and other national security officials have persuaded him to stay the course in Syria. and in Afghanistan.
In his interview with Sunday, Wallace had stressed that Trump had not visited troops in Iraq or Afghanistan, the president was quick to point out that he opposed the war in Iraq, even if he had never expressed his opposition before the 2003 invasion.
"But it's soldiers, sir," said Wallace.
"You're right," Trump replied. He promised to make a visit despite his incredibly busy schedule. . . in addition to that, you have these fake witch hunts. "
Monetary support for the military has long been at the heart of Trump's political messages.
When the former First Lady, Michelle Obama, stated in a recently published book that she could not forgive Trump for noisy and reckless insinuations about her husband's birthplace that put his family at risk, Trump quickly recognized that he could not forgive his immediate predecessor made to our military. "
Years of budget ceilings have undermined US military preparedness, according to the Pentagon, which said the Trump administration's consistent funding for the first two years had alleviated the problems of training, maintenance, staff and equipment.
In August, Trump signed a defense bill of $ 716 billion, including a base budget of $ 639 billion, the largest in the country in adjusted terms since the Second World War, an increase of 2, 6% of the salary of the troops and critical investments in the maintenance of the equipment. The overall defense budget, which includes active operations, was higher in the Bush and Obama years during the Iraq wave.
In recent weeks, however, the Trump administration has indicated that it is unlikely that the military largesse that characterized the first two years of its mandate will continue.
After the federal deficit climbed 17%, in part as a result of Republicans' tax cuts last year, Trump ordered government agencies to cut their budgets by about 5%. in the coming year, which would represent a reduction of about $ 33 billion for the army. .
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