John Kelly, then White House chief of staff, in the Oval Office, Washington, October 19, 2017.

Donald Trump fits the definition of a “fascist,” according to General John Kelly. His comments, published by the New York Times on Tuesday, October 22, are fueling the debate on the authoritarian agenda pursued by the billionaire, 13 days before the presidential election. “He certainly prefers the dictator approach to government,” said Kelly, who was first the secretary of homeland security in the Trump administration before becoming, for a year and a half starting in July 2017, his chief of staff. The former president “never accepted the fact that he wasn’t the most powerful man in the world – and by power, I mean an ability to do anything he wanted, anytime he wanted,” explained the general.

He also confirmed a significant detail, already reported in several books: the Republican candidate’s fascination with Adolf Hitler. “He commented more than once that, ‘You know, Hitler did some good things, too.'” Despite his account, Kelly refused to call on voters to not elect the former president. On a CNN program Wednesday evening, Kamala Harris called Kelly’s remarks “a 911 call to the American people.” She also used the term “fascist” herself to describe Trump. By midday, the candidate had delivered a harsh address against Trump, in reaction to the general’s remarks. “He wants a military that is loyal to him. He wants a military who will be loyal to him personally, one that will obey his orders even when he tells them to break the law or abandon their oath to the Constitution of the United States,” she asserted.

During the campaign, Trump said he might employ the military against “enemies from within,” including some Democrats. In an article published by The Atlantic magazine, Jeffrey Goldberg revisited, at length, Trump’s adversarial relationship with the generals. The magazine’s editor-in-chief reported several remarks made at the White House, according to witnesses. “I need the kind of generals Hitler had,” the former president is quoted as saying. “People who were totally loyal to him, that follow orders.”

The ‘most dangerous person to this country’

Let’s put aside the billionaire’s ignorance of Operation Valkyrie, involving high-ranking officers, and the assassination attempt on the Nazi dictator in July 1944. Trump’s fascination with Hitler mirrors his widely documented and public fascination with the autocrats of his time, such as Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping. For Trump, the quality of a leader is measured by his unfettered strength. Interviewed by National Public Radio (NPR) in 2022, former defense secretary Mark Esper recalled remarks made by the president in 2020, at the time of the protests provoked by the death of George Floyd at the hands of the police. Trump was “enraged,” as his administration appeared impotent in the face of the protesters. Addressing his chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Mark Milley, Trump said, “Can’t you just shoot them, just shoot them in the legs or something?”

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