WEDNESDAY PDB – Who do you believe? Gen. John Kelly on Monday confirmed past reports that then-President Donald Trump insulted wounded veterans in private conversations with staff and called fallen troops “losers” for sacrificing their lives for their country.
Trump insulted vets in private, former White House Chief of Staff Kelly confirms. Kelly, who also served as Trump's Homeland Security secretary — expressed contempt for the ex-president's past actions and recent comments attacking outgoing Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley.
Kelly said that Trump is “a person that thinks those who defend their country in uniform, or are shot down or seriously wounded in combat, or spend years being tortured as POWs are all ‘suckers' because ‘there is nothing in it for them.'” This was especially insulting to Kelly who lost his 29-year-old son, Marine 1st Lt. Robert Kelly, to a landmine in Afghanistan in 2010.
Gen. Kelly also said that Trump did not want to be photographed in public with military amputees, with the former president reportedly saying, “it doesn't look good for me.”
Trump has denied disparaging veterans in the past. In a statement to the Washington Post on Monday night, Trump's campaign spokesman dismissed Kelly's comments and said the president's former chief of staff “has totally clowned himself with these debunked stories he's made up because he didn't serve his president well.”
AS MUCH AS I HATE TO BELIEVE GEN. KELLY, HE IS NOT SOMEONE WHO WOULD MAKE UP STORIES.
FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – Here's a roundup of today's other top defense stories from conservative national security expert PAUL CRESPO.
Not the President's Daily Brief, but almost as good – PAUL'S DAILY BRIEFING – the PDB:
WHAT?! – Pentagon official charged with being part of a dog fighting ring. A DoD chief information officer is charged with training fighting dogs in the D.C. area for more than 20 years.
PENTAGON WOKE WATCH
AS HE GETS POLITICAL AND JABS TRUMP AS A ‘WANNABE DICTATOR'! – The military has no role in politics, says retiring chair of the Joint Chiefs. Army General Mark Milley, the nation's most senior military officer, has retired after 43 years of service.
CHINA THREAT
Cartoon elves and scrolls visualize Chinese military's goal of Taiwan ‘reunification.' China's military released an animation on Sunday depicting the journey to reunite two halves of a torn scroll across the Taiwan Strait, a thinly veiled reference to the country's goal of “reunification” with the democratic, self-ruled island.
Russia's next target: US support for Ukraine, officials say. Russian spy agencies and new technologies could be used to push conspiracy theories.
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 587. At least two people were killed and eight injured in Russian shelling of Ukraine's southern Kherson region.
IT'S JUST 45 DAYS – Zelensky vows to keep fighting after Ukraine aid dropped from short-term funding measure.
SPACE THREAT
The Space Force should safeguard US interests on the moon. The potential for conflict beyond Earth is coming.
AFRL picks 3 contractors for JETSON effort to develop fission powered spacecraft. The Space Force sees nuclear fission reactors as a solution to replace solar panels for operations in the darkness of deep space.
Air Force Research Lab awards design contracts for nuclear powered spacecraft. Intuitive Machines, Lockheed Martin and Westinghouse Government Services will support AFRL's project known as Joint Emergent Technology Supplying On-orbit Nuclear Power.
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
Key Democrats threaten to cut military aid to Egypt. If the US cuts aid, Egyptian authorities may have to either attempt to assuage the human rights concerns — or look elsewhere for the $1.3 billion in annual military funding it currently receives from Washington.
Marines send new Southeast Asia rotational force to the Philippines. A new Marine rotational force has deployed to the Philippines to begin a series of back-to-back exercises in the region.
Britain pumps nearly $5 billion into future AUKUS submarine pipeline. It has committed $4.9 billion to the next phase in the development of nuclear-powered submarines as part of the tri-national program with the U.S. and Australia.
NATO's ‘Dynamic Messenger' test uses 5G mesh to link underwater drones. A recent NATO military exercise highlighted the value of weaving 5G marine testbeds into the Alliance's operations for use with unmanned underwater vehicles.
Serbia says it has reduced army presence near Kosovo after US expressed concern over troop buildup. The Serbian army has cut the number of troops stationed on the border by nearly half, denying U.S. reports of a mass military buildup in the wake of a shooting that killed four people and raised fears of conflict in the volatile region.
UN Security Council approves sending a Kenya-led force to Haiti to fight violent gangs. The multinational armed force led by Kenya to Haiti to help combat violent gangs, marks the first time in almost 20 years that a force would be deployed to the troubled Caribbean nation.
US MILITARY
What semper fi means, according to 4 Marines. Marines and semper fi are like peanut butter and jelly.
SHE WASN'T FAITHFUL – Marine faces felony charges for neglecting dogs, cats during pet-sitting gig. The Marine from Beaufort's Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) faces charges of animal cruelty for neglecting five pets she was hired to watch, leaving one dog to die of starvation after not visiting the owner's house for a five-day period.
The military is turning to microgrids to fight global threats — and global warming. He had been commanding Marine Corps Air Station, Miramar in San Diego for just one day, in July 2021, when he got a message from the base energy management director. The city power system was straining under a heatwave, and it was time to start up the microgrid.
Is there a link between TBI and veteran suicide? “You would think in a community with blast exposure, we would be educating the guys coming up a little earlier…”
END of PDB
I don’t believe Kelly. Where’s the video of Trump doing so?
He is part of the Deep State or Military Industrial Complex. Not worth listening to. I’m a Veteran & Deplore many of the Generals in our military today.
Just another attempt by the establishment to harm Trump. It’s getting old.
Trump 2024
No He lies day 1
That’s a third-person spin of what Trump said about a political rival John McCain and it isn’t true in the context of General Kelley’s remarks.
Boy, they’re trying every scheme from every angle! Anything to GET TRUMP!
They’re getting so desperate, it’s become comical!
I believe Kelly brings shame to the Marine Corps. He is a political hack.
That article is from 2017? Debunked.