He fetishized the military – but the generals have had it with feckless, reckless Trump
Gen Mattis’s skewering of the president is to be savoured but military discontent is not the bellwether of a true resistance
Donald Trump, like all strongmen, fetishizes military might. He dreams of parading armies down the streets of Washington. He exalts men with weapons the way football fans deify their favorite quarterbacks.
Generals have always occupied a special place in Trump’s psyche. “General Mattis is a strong, highly dignified man,” Trump said in 2016, shortly before he tapped Jim Mattis to be his defense secretary. “You know he’s known as Mad Dog Mattis, right? Mad Dog for a reason.”