Posted on 09/10/2020 6:35:41 AM PDT by SJackson
Why The Atlantics smear of the president as disrespectful of fallen soldiers does not hold up.
I had never met Donald Trump when I began serving in his White House. I took the job expecting that I would never meet him. My (former) rolehead of communications at the National Security Councilis not one whose occupant traditionally interacts with the president all that much (my immediate predecessor notwithstanding). The NSC comms directors principal, as we say in the flak trade, is the national security advisor, not the president. The president has higher-ranking aides to look after his interests.
Plus, the top NSC flak has a rather large organization to worry about. Within the Executive Office of the President, only the Office of Management and Budget is bigger than the NSC. And given the latters somewhat secretive nature and placement at the center of various secretive yet intensely interesting agencies, keeping track of its happenings and fending off mis- and disinformation tends to be a full-time job in and of itself.
Anyway, having worked there before (in the George W. Bush Administration) and seen the NSC up close, I had definite ideas about how its comms office should function. As a supporter of the new president, I wanted to use that experience to help his administration communicate the significant changes he intended to make to American foreign policy. All that, I assumed, would be done without him having any knowledge of my role, or even of who I was.
But to my surprise, I ended up spending a great deal of time with President Trumpfar more, for instance, in my 14 months in his administration than I spent with President Bush over my four years with his.
The first time I talked to President Trump was unexpected. I had to tell Hope Hicks about some crazy thing the North Koreans had just done or were about to do (I dont remember the details). Her desk, in those early days, was the first one outside the Oval Office door, which the president likes to keep open.
But Hope was on the phone. She held up one finger as if to say Give me a minute. So I waited. I was, without quite realizing it, directly within the presidents line of sight. Somehow my eyes wandered in his direction and I saw him, behind the Resolute Desk, looking right at me. He raised a hand to wave me in. I panicked. This is not what I came over here for!
I turned to Hope and blurted out: Hes waving for me to go in!
So go! she said, annoyed.
But
She put her hand over her phones mic and cut me off. Antonin nearly four years of working for and hanging out with Hope, I dont think shes ever once called me Michael or MikeDJT likes to talk to and get to know all the people who work for him. This was going to happen sooner or later. Go, she said, shooing me with her left hand.
So I went. There was someone sitting in front of the presidents desk; I dont recall who, nor did I ever learn what I was interrupting. I introduced myself as Michael Anton from the NSC.
The president replied, I know who you are, in a tone that mildly suggested, Do you think Im an idiot?
I almost said No, sir, as if he had actually asked that question, but caught myself and quickly told him what I had come to tell Hope. He asked me what we were proposing to do, and I told him. Then he asked me if I thought that was a good idea, and I said I did. And he said, fine, do it.
From that point on, I saw a lot of President Trump. I saw him in large meetings where I was just an observer, some of them secret conferences of his war cabinet, others with foreign leaders. I saw and spoke to him in many staff prep sessions or pre-briefs. I was in the Oval Office, and sometimes upstairs in the residence, for nearly every foreign leader call. I saw him in public with foreign leaders overseas and in private, around no one but staff, at embassies and hotels. Since I left the White House in April 2018, Ive seen and spoken to the president a handful of times.
Here are three things I learned firsthand over the course of those interactions that are directly relevant to the latest phony controversy. First, Donald Trump loves his countryand not just as it might someday be, but as it is and has been. Second, he loves American troops, and especially enlisted men and women. Third, he loves performing the ceremonial duties of the presidency.
Hence it is utterly impossible to imagine President Trump disparaging American servicemen, as recently alleged, and doubly impossible to imagine him doing so within 100 miles or 48 hours of a ceremony honoring Americas fallen.
Ive seen the president at U.S. bases interact with the military. Ive seen him sit down and have lunch with enlisted soldiers. Ive seen such meetings and meals extend long past the time on the printed schedule because the president enjoys so much talking to our troops and hates to leave if that would mean even one soldier who wants a moment or picture with him cant get it. And Ive seen him in daily, sometimes round-the-clock contact with his military aides (there are five at any given time), whom he consistently treats with gratitude and respect.
Ive also seen the president in more than one unguarded moment. Ive seen him at the end of long, grueling days and after meetings with people who sorely tried his patience. And I never, ever saw or heard him say anything remotely like what has been, I am confident, falsely attributed to him. A comment like that doesnt just emerge from nowhere. It would have to reflect the speakers true sentiments. Sentiments which, in this case, I know President Trump does not hold.
Since leaving President Trumps White House, Ive declined to recount the details of my service there. Im going to break my own rule now, this once, to tell a story thats directly relevant and also shows how fake news of this type is made.
In the summer of 2017, a National Security Council meeting was convened to discuss one of Americas long-running wars. Technically and legally, the National Security Council is a meeting of top cabinet secretaries and other officials that the president chairs. The instant he leaves the room, the meeting becomes a Principals Committee or PC.
I was in the room, back-benching and just listening, for this entire meeting. It was long. The president had a lot to say and asked a lot of questions about Americas seemingly endless involvement in overseas conflict. His questions were pointed. Many around the table were clearly taken aback, suggesting that they had never been questioned like that before. Few, it seemed, had any good answers.
If some in the room had gone in expecting a quick and easy approval of more war, they left disappointed. The president clearly tasked them to come back with answers to his questions, and with better options.
A day or two later, an account of the meeting appeared in the press. The gist was to allege that President Trump doesnt understand the world, the evidence being that he wont rubber-stamp whatever senior officials put in front of him; in other words, pretty standard for coverage of the Trump presidency.
But one detail caught my eye. The story alleged that the president had disparaged American troops by comparing them to waiters. I knew instantly to what that referred, and knew also that while technically true, in the much larger sense it was a monstrous lie.
Heres what the president actually said. He told his advisors that its impossible to learn the truth about any operation from talking only to senior management. Theyll either mislead you or not understand the situation themselves. To fully understand whats going on, you have to talk to those on the ground who do the actual work.
Then he told a story about a friend who owned a popular restaurant whose revenues had been declining. The friend hired a consulting firm, paid them a lot of money, and implemented all their advice. Revenues continued to fall.
The frustrated and bewildered friend reported all this to Trump. I told him, the president said at our meeting, You wasted your money. Talk to the waiters. Talk to the cooks. Talk to the busboys. They know. They know whats working and what isnt. They can help you fix this faster than any fancy consultants.
Then, to the bigshots sitting around the table, he said that he wanted to talk to soldiers about the war. And he didnt want to talk to generals. He didnt want to talk to colonels. He didnt even necessarily want to talk to officers at all. He wanted to talk to enlisted soldiersand only those whod been there, fighting, on the front lines. All I will say about that later meeting is that it took place.
As for the other ginned-up scandal about President Trump questioning the wisdom of World War I, hasnt skepticism of the value of that war been the pan-ideological scholarly, historical, and political consensus in all participating nations since, roughly, 1919?
Is this latest bit of fake news similarly twisted out of some semi-factual detail? Not having been there, I have no way of knowing. But I doubt it.
Many others have blown holes in all aspects of the reporting. I have nothing to add to all that but will close by asking: why this lie, right now? The alleged incident took place in November 201822 months ago. What makes it breaking news in September 2020?
The answer, obviously, is the election. And more to the point, Democratic attempts to get around the election by saying in advance that Trump is going to lose and then refuse to leave office. Many elite luminaries, up to and including Joe Biden himself, are urging the military, when the time comes, to escort [Trump] from the White House with great dispatch (to use Bidens words).
Apparently, theyre not confident the military will go along. If they were, public lies like this would not be necessary. Those behind the effort could just privately tell military leaders the plan.
Instead, theyre trying to generate disdain for Trump within the military via an obvious psyop. In a way, this disgusting affair should give us hope. It suggests that the coup plotters may not be in quite as strong a position as they pretend to be.
Will the psyop work? I doubt that, too. First, because I doubt the militaryeven the most anti-Trump among the brasswill want to be and be seen as interfering in an election. Second, because I believe enough servicemembers know their president, if not personally, then through his deeds and words. They know his sentiments toward them are the opposite of what those who libel him allege.
Isnt it obvious to everyone how fake and manufactured these hit-pieces are?!
The outrageous claims, the total anonymity of sources, the timing, coming from the same old tired deep-state media hacks, and the quick retreat and move on to new headlines when challenged - all show a clear pattern.
The US mainstream media are truly the propaganda mouthpieces and whores of Americas deep state and political elites.
Another good one by Michael Anton; just hope more & more people will realize what the coup strategies are.
I knew it.
Thanks for posting....
[[[Isnt it obvious to everyone how fake and manufactured these hit-pieces are?!]]]
They will become background noise as they further lose their impact.
I call it “bombshell fatigue”.
Compare and Contrast
bump
Yes, but it dominates the news cycle for a few days and does require an answer.
He has a whole bank of Challenge coins displayed in the oval office. Yeah, he so hates the military /s
Thank you Michael Anton. That is just the kind of information we need.
Great article! Needs to be spread around. Thanks for posting.
Another fear strategy Dems are promoting is that if Trump loses he will resign shortly after election results announced and Pence will be President and will pardon Trump of any charges pending, etc.
Thank God for Anton sharing the analogy of the waiter/soldier analogy. Yes, if you want to know where issues are go to the worker bees not the head honchos.
Everything I have seen by Michael Anton is very good.
No, the president doesn’t “go along just to get along.”
He is a breath of fresh air in the swamp and that’s why we love him.
Great contrast! I hope that fine Marine holding that umbrella over the Resident had his index, third and pinkie fingers curled up in his glove on that cool day.
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