October 22, 2024, presidential campaign news | CNN Politics

Former President Donald Trump praised Adolf Hitler’s generals for their loyalty to the German dictator and said he wished American military personnel showed him the same deference, according to a new story published Tuesday by The Atlantic.

American military officers, such as generals, swear an oath to the Constitution and not the commander-in-chief.

Trump has reportedly made similar comments about Adolf Hitler and his generals. A book published in 2022 also reported Trump told his then-chief of staff, John Kelly, “Why can’t you be like the German generals?” The comments by Trump when he was president were reported in “The Divider: Trump in the White House,” by reporters Peter Baker and Susan Glasser.

When The Atlantic asked Kelly recently about the exchange, the retired Marine general confirmed it.

“‘Do you mean Bismarck’s generals?’” Kelly told The Atlantic, recounting the moment. He added, “I mean, I knew he didn’t know who Bismarck was, or about the Franco-Prussian War. I said, ‘Do you mean the kaiser’s generals? Surely you can’t mean Hitler’s generals?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, yeah, Hitler’s generals.’ I explained to him that Rommel had to commit suicide after taking part in a plot against Hitler.”

“This is absolutely false. President Trump never said this,” said Alex Pfeiffer, a Trump campaign adviser.

The article lays out a series of stories that The Atlantic uses to illustrate Trump’s views on the military and his desires on how they perform under his command. In addition to recounting the former president’s musings on the loyalty of Nazi generals, The Atlantic also reported Trump was furious when told how much the funeral for a fallen servicemember cost after he had volunteered to pay for it.

The Atlantic reported that that Trump told the family of Fort Hood Pfc. Vanessa Guillen, who was bludgeoned to death with a hammer in the armory room where she worked, that would pay for the funeral costs but never paid.

When he received the $60,000 bill, the Atlantic reported – citing two people present at the meeting and the notes of someone at the meeting – Trump said, “It doesn’t cost 60,000 bucks to bury a f–king Mexican!”

Trump told his then-chief of staff Mark Meadows and directed him not to pay the funeral bill. Later in the day, Trump reportedly said, “F–king people, trying to rip me off.”

“President Donald Trump never said that. This is an outrageous lie from the Atlantic two weeks before the election,” Pfeiffer said.