While everyone remembers Donald Trump‘s infamous military parade-slash-“Fourth of July celebration,” what they don’t know is the behind-the-scenes battle that took place between Trump and his generals, who were obviously not thrilled with the idea. According to a new exposé by The New Yorker on the frequent skirmishes between Trump and military brass, the former president became enthralled with the idea of a parade after visiting a Bastille Day celebration in Paris during his first year in office.
French president Emmanuel Macron knew Trump would love the tanks rolling down the streets, and sure enough, he flew home and immediately demanded a parade of his own. However, Trump reportedly made a specific (and insulting) request to Chief of Staff John Kelly and just wait until Jon Stewart hears this one. Via The New Yorker:
“Look, I don’t want any wounded guys in the parade,” Trump said. “This doesn’t look good for me.” He explained with distaste that at the Bastille Day parade there had been several formations of injured veterans, including wheelchair-bound soldiers who had lost limbs in battle.
Kelly could not believe what he was hearing. “Those are the heroes,” he told Trump. “In our society, there’s only one group of people who are more heroic than they are—and they are buried over in Arlington.” Kelly did not mention that his own son Robert, a lieutenant killed in action in Afghanistan, was among the dead interred there.
“I don’t want them,” Trump repeated. “It doesn’t look good for me.”
On top of demanding that his Big Man Tank Parade not have any “wounded guys” in it, Trump also reportedly criticized military leaders for not being loyal like “the German generals in World War II” a.k.a the Nazis.
“You do know that they tried to kill Hitler three times and almost pulled it off?” Kelly told Trump, who unsurprisingly denied the historical fact. “No, no, no,” Trump said. “They were totally loyal to him.” (They weren’t.)
(Via The New Yorker)