Peter Bergen “is a contributing editor at The New Republic and has worked as a correspondent for National Geographic television, Discovery, and CNN. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, Atlantic, Rolling Stone, Time, Vanity Fair, among other publications.” (Simon & Schuster). Bergen‘s book Trump and His Generals: The Cost of Chaos was a gift from blog friend Harp Player, sister to Lynn of Matt Lynn Digital, last winter.
(Peter Bergen wrote the 2019 book Trump and His Generals: The Cost of Chaos).
Trump and His Generals: The Cost of Chaos largely is written as a critique of the first three years of the Donald Trump administration’s national security and foreign policy, as well as the president‘s emotional attachment to disciplinarian former generals who initially staffed his administration. The cumulative effect of the review within the book does not flatter the president.
(United States President Donald Trump and his management style are the subject of Peter Begen‘s 2019 book Trump and His Generals: The Cost of Chaos).
The clear sense that Donald Trump would manage the conduct of his presidency much differently than his predecessor was known to those listening to the man’s rhetoric on the campaign trail. That things would be different started from the point that the transition from elected president to acting president began, wherein the transition largely ignored the mandated transition planning that had been conducted by former New Jersey governor Chris Christie. The work that ultimately replaced that led to carryover administrators at the beginning of the Trump presidency, plus experienced military leaders entering the cabinet.
(Former Marine General James Mattis became the Secretary of Defense in the Donald Trump administration).
The foreign policy review of the first three years of the Trump presidency was largely a look at attempting to reverse policies put forward by former president Barack Obama. The selection of former Marine General James Mattis, who had been the head of US Central Command from 2010-2013. Mattis was closely aligned with former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who was fired after publicly siding with longstanding NATO ally the United Kingdom, rather than Trump and Russia on the subject of the poisoning of an ex-British spy. Mattis had firm disagreements with Trump on character and intellectual grounds, which ultimately came to a head over pulling troops out of Syria in the face of the conflict and strategic influence for the United States or Russia in the region. Other points of disagreement, yet Mattis‘ reputation was tarnished for allowing troops be fixed at the US border with Mexico to prevent potential illegal immigrants from crossing the border in 2018.
(Former Exxon Mobil Corporation Chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson was Secretary of State in the Donald Trump administration).
Former Marine General John F. Kelly served as chief of staff for Donald Trump, though not immediately from the beginning of the Trump Presidency. As is the case with many who have served Trump as president, Kelly was less aggrieved than many upon leaving, as suggested in this piece by NBC News. Attorney General Jeff Sessions did not come out of that exit interview with Kelly well in that the situation with both people being detained and the family separation were raised. Sessions did not feature prominently in Bergen‘s book Trump and His Generals: The Cost of Chaos.
(Former Marine General John Kelly served as Chief of Staff to Donald Trump).
Besides the separation situation, Sessions merited discussion of his pushing to withdraw troops from Afghanistan as well as the multiple versions of travel bans aimed at keeping people from predominantly Islamic countries from traveling to the United States. Sessions recusing himself from the probe into Trump administration ties to Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election was not explored in Trump and His Generals: The Cost of Chaos.
(Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions served in the Donald Trump administration).
Former Army Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster served as National Security Advisor to Donald Trump until being replaced by now former National Security Advisor John Bolton. McMaster replaced former Army Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, who lasted less than a month on the job due to his lying to the FBI about connections he had with Russia.
(Former Army Lt. General H.R. McMaster was the second National Security Advisor to president Donald Trump).
An early impression that Trump expressed to former Chief Strategist Steve Bannon about the Silver Star recipient McMaster in Trump and His Generals: The Cost of Chaos was that McMaster “look[ed] like a beer salesman.” McMaster had the support of Secretary of Defense James Mattis, which didn’t hurt his candidacy. McMaster was included in the euphemistically labeled Axis of Adults that included Mattis, John Kelly and Rex Tillerson, who collectively aimed to “contain and control” the impulsive brand of decision-making they feared in Trump. Bergen argues that McMaster and Trump never had much of a “good relationship”.
(Former interim United States ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton was the third National Security Advisor to president Donald Trump).
Bolton initially had a better relationship with Trump, though that didn’t last. The management style of Bolton also didn’t make him many friends, per Bergen, in that Bolton replaced meetings where discussion took place with position papers where staff was intended to indicate approval or disapproval. Trump fired Bolton over what was reported as policy differences.
(Former presidential chief strategist Steve Bannon served in the Donald Trump administration).
Other items that came up in Trump and His Generals: The Cost of Chaos were the assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, the murder of Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, North Korea, the shift in American foreign policy towards China, the folly of the tariffs, and many other things. That Trump hasn’t publicly attacked military forces while simultaneously funding them was noted. Overall, I came to the reporting within this document with an open mind, finding much context setting in what essentially is an extended look into the leadership style of Donald Trump. My rating for Trump and His Generals: The Cost of Chaos by Peter Bergen is 3.75-stars on a scale of one-to-five.
Matt – Wednesday, April 22, 2020
Matt Lynn Digital 