Politics

The clash between Trump and his generals

A prominent retired four-star admiral says that several former generals have left President Donald Trump’s administration because their advice and many years of military experience did not make a difference in swaying the White House on key national security issues.

Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Adm. James Stavridis noted in TimeMagazine Thursday that former Marine Corps Gen. Jim Mattis, Trump’s former defense secretary, is only the latest high-profile departure. That list now includes his former chief of staff, retired Marine Corps Gen. John Kelly, and his former national security adviser, retired Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster.

“The President famously does not actually read the voluminous policy papers with which he is presented. From the perspective of a senior military mind, this would be akin to a car refusing to be gassed up,” Stavridis wrote.

“In the end, each of them had to ask himself, At what point does my serving in this White House become less a guardrail and more an enabler? And what will it ultimately mean that the hard-won credibility of my life and career supported the work of this administration,” Stavridis wrote.