Trump threw a fit over a report that General Mark Milley, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had to intervene to stop Trump from pulling off a government takeover a la Nazi Germany after losing the 2020 election. In a loopy 400-word statement, Trump said, "if I was going to do a coup, one of the last people I would want to do it with is General Mark Milley."
But General Miley had nothing to worry about, said former National Security Adviser John Bolton. In an interview with CNN, he explained that Trump is incapable of staging a coup due to a lack of mental capacity. "The idea of Trump staging a coup does give him too much credit," said Bolton. "That requires advanced thinking, planning, strategizing, building up support. And I just don't think he's capable of that."
Another highlight: when CNN asked Bolton if he thought Trump was a facsist, Bolton said, "that requires believing Trump can think in a consistent philosophical framework for more than about 10 or 15 seconds, and it's just not possible. He is all about Donald Trump."
Here's the full transcript, which is worth reading:
CNN
You were chuckling as you saw Trump's response. Tell me why?John Bolton
Well, it's juvenile. And it's really it's unbecoming of a former president of the United States to refer to people who serve the country well and served in his administration as if they're in a kindergarten class. And it's a sad commentary on Trump himself, but I think also reflective of much of his behavior during four years in office, and I'm laughing and I shouldn't laugh because it's more serious than that. But it's so typical, that I can't stop myself.CNN
And I want to ask you because as we see these revelations about Milley, in a slew of books about the Trump years, I do want to note for our viewers, you were kinda long gone from the White House by the time some of these periods had happened, right, leading up the summer into the election and so on. But Milley thought that it was feasible that Trump would attempt a violent coup if he had thought it realistically possible. Do you agree with him?John Bolton
Well, I think Trump was capable of doing almost anything. And I would just say although it was gone from the White House, I was still under attack by Trump, who had a civil lawsuit against me and tried to launch a grand jury as well. I think I have the highest respect for Mark Milley, I think he's the right person for the job as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. I thought that when I was still in the government, and I think he was doing his best number one to uphold the Constitution, and this was this is where his loyalty and I think the loyalty of all the Chiefs was something Trump fundamentally didn't understand. He had one concept of loyalty, which is loyalty to Donald Trump. And there is an element of personal loyalty for any senior advisor to the President. But ultimately, your loyalty is to the Constitution. And Milley understood that without qualification, and number two, it's a triumph of the success of our concept of civilian control over the military, that Milley knew that the military itself would be in danger if it got sucked into American politics. And with somebody like Donald Trump, for whom everything is politics, it's very, very difficult. He and Mark Esper, the Secretary of Defense had a very difficult course to walk and I think the fact we got through this successfully is a credit to both of them for the thinking they did and the support they had from their colleagues.CNN
It sounds like you trust his assessment saying that you think Trump was really capable of anything. Is that fair? I want to ask you because, in November of 2020, you told my colleague Jake Tapper, about the possibility of Trump staging a violent coup. This was just you know, a couple of weeks after the election, the Big Lie was really taking hold. And you said it gives Trump too much credit. Do you look differently on that Now?John Bolton
No, the idea of Trump staging a coup does give him too much credit. That requires advanced thinking, planning, strategizing, building up support. And I just don't think he's capable of that. What he was capable of was on a daily basis doing something more and more outrageous than he had done the day before. All to the same end of staying in power. But the notion that Trump could have orchestrated a coup does give him too much credit. And the fact is that the efforts that he did make, got more and more extreme, more and more outrageous, and various institutions and individuals were able to come together and keep the Constitution moving.CNN
Did you ever hear Trump talk about Nazis or Hitler?John Bolton
Well, he had, he had little or no sense of history. And because his father was German, he from time to time talked about Germans, not usually in a very complimentary way. And certainly not in a complimentary fashion about Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany, who's just here in Washington, I think Trump doesn't think in philosophical or even policy terms, that gives him too much credit, too. So many things he said about history were based on no knowledge, whatever. And after a while, I just didn't take them seriously.CNN
Do you consider Trump a fascist? Because Milley clearly does.John Bolton
Yeah, I think that requires believing Trump can think in a consistent philosophical framework for more than about 10 or 15 seconds, and it's just not possible. He is all about Donald Trump. And he is all about Donald Trump staying in office, which is why he is still at it, attacking the election coming up with ridiculous theories that Mike Pence somehow didn't do what he should have done that he is going to be returned to office because states are going to reverse their electoral college votes. These are conclusions that you could draw only if you were Donald Trump.CNN
You have been saying for months that Trump's political base is shrinking, that you are looking at data that is telling you that and so I wonder what you think because Republicans, they clearly do not I think that. I think it's fair to say a lot of these congressional Republicans probably have a pretty good pulse of their constituencies and where they are politically and ideologically and whether they support Trump or not. And I wonder how you square what you are saying is a shrinking Trump base, with Kevin McCarthy going again to see Trump this time to Bedminster to kiss the ring,John Bolton
because I think there's a disjunction between real people, which is what both the national poll and a poll of New Hampshire that I've taken, shows the Trump space is shrinking, I think in the Washington bubble, in the media, if I may say so. And in some elected Republicans, some state parties, they're still absorbed with Trump, but I've got another problem.CNN
Some? I mean, it seems like a majority.John Bolton
Well, I think no, I think actually, I've got a poll coming out Monday. I don't want to step on my own news. But I think it shows people are moving away from Trump, continue to move away from Trump, that many of his actions including his criticism of Mike Pence, and what he did on January the sixth are reducing his support among Republicans. I think we need more Republicans to step up and say so.CNN
House Republicans are building essentially a midterm strategy around Trump being the leader of the party. They're not believing anything of the ilk that you are describing right now.John Bolton
Well, I think they are a part of the Washington bubble, but I think if they look at their own constituencies they will find obviously, it varies from district to district. But I do think Republicans, as you would expect, are looking ahead, not in the rearview mirror of Donald Trump, who is obsessed with whether or not the 2020 election was stolen. Real people have real problems, not least of which may be rising inflation in our country, and they want people who are going to address those solutions. If Republicans work on policy. That's always been the path to success. It has nothing to do with Donald Trump.
