Trump’s generals are far too important to be fired
The media sometimes blare out rumors that Gen. John Kelly, the White House chief of staff, is proving to be a loose cannon and might soon be fired. Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, Trump’s national security adviser, is occasionally rumored to be a hawkish interventionist who soon might be terminated. Secretary of Defense Gen. James Mattis is purportedly too much the centrist Democrat, and thus might be leaving.
Of course, few Cabinet or White House appointees ever serve throughout an entire administration. Burnout is natural. Lucrative private- sector job offers multiply monthly.
But the problem with all these rumors of departing generals is that they make no sense because the three generals have been radically successful. In just a year, they have markedly enhanced U. S. national security as well as the image of the Trump administration itself.
The media, which is mostly anti-Trump, has always been schizophrenic in the coverage of the three generals. Some media outlets initially echoed old worries about the militarization of the executive branch. They forgot that generals, both active and retired, have long held administration jobs. Gen. Colin Powell, for instance, served four presidents, starting under Ronald Reagan.
Others in the media had hoped that the mostly apolitical generals would nudge the wild- card Trump left of center.
But now, most journalists seem baffled that the generals are either proving too conservative or not standing up to Trump enough.
By late 2016, strategic deterrence had mostly been lost due to the prior administration’s failed Russian reset, unchecked Chinese ascendance, a comatose approach to North Korean nuclear enhancements, the Iran deal, empty red lines, step- over lines and deadlines.
In reaction to these growing threats, our friends have been reassured, enemies have been warned, and stability is returning. ISIS is on the run. North Korea is forcefully embargoed. Defense spending is up. Missile defense is recalibrated. And reset fantasies are over with Vladimir Putin.
Trump’s improving poll numbers reflect the order that Kelly established out of chaos in the West Wing. Kelly serves Trump by improving day-to- day op- erations in the White House and by helping Trump restore U. S. economic and military dynamism.
Mattis and McMaster are said to play good cops abroad to Trump’s bad cop. By warning that the alternative to negotiations is a raging Trump who might do anything, the two generals are purportedly leveraging everything from delinquent NATO members’ defense contributions to European help in isolating Iran and North Korea.
The problem with that scenario is not that it is absolutely false, but that the stereotype is exaggerated and simplistic. After all, it is difficult to see where Mattis and McMaster have disagreed with Trump — or, for that matter, with the American people — on existential issues.
The real challenge for the generals has been how to warn enemies and reassure friends that past global provocations against U. S. interests will now be deterred — but without a major war.
So far, Kelly, Mattis and McMaster have avoided both nationbuilding interventionism and lead-from-behind abdication of postwar responsibilities.
When they go abroad, their wide portfolios and latitude are signaling that they are in charge not despite but rather because of Trump.
To reverse the purported quip of Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord: To fire any one of these three generals at this point would be worse than a mistake, it would be a crime.
President Trump’s improving poll numbers reflect the order that Gen. John Kelly established out of chaos in the West Wing. Kelly serves Trump by improving day-to-day operations in the White House and by helping Trump restore U.S. economic and military dynamism.