A few weeks ago, President Donald Trump was admitting that his tone could have been a bit softer in the lead up to the election. Over the weekend, however, President Trump doubled (dare I say tripled) down on his harsh rhetoric, lashing out at critics, rejecting the CIA’s Khashoggi report, and otherwise proving he still had some bones to pick.
Retired Adm. William McRaven got a mouthful, suggesting that President Trump won’t be taking it easy on respected military officials going forward. McRaven, a retired Navy Seal, has been critical of the president. Last year, he labeled Trump a threat to democracy owing to the president’s criticism of the media. McRaven went as far as to say: “[President Donald Trump] embarrassed us in the eyes of our children, humiliated us on the world stage and, worst of all, divided us as a nation.”
Trump fired back in an interview on Fox News Sunday, deriding the retired admiral as a Hillary fan and criticizing his inability to capture or kill Osama bin Laden until 2011. McRaven oversaw the military raid that ultimately brought Bin Laden down.
Speaking on the issue, Trump noted: “Wouldn’t it have been nice if we got Osama bin Laden a lot sooner than that, wouldn’t it have been nice? You know, living — think of this — living in Pakistan, beautifully in Pakistan, in what I guess they considered a nice mansion, I don’t know, I’ve seen nicer. But living in Pakistan right next to the military academy, everybody in Pakistan knew he was there.”
Others have stepped forward to defend McRaven. Former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morrell noted that McRaven’s military units weren’t responsible for finding Bin Laden. That was the CIA’s job. McRaven’s job was to bring him down once found.
Speaking of the Central Intelligence Agency, their report released recently argues that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman knew of and almost certainly directed the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The report was based on evidence provided by Turkey and other CIA sources.
President Trump has dismissed the report, highlighting once again his lack of trust in the intelligence community. On countless occasions, the president has dismissed the intelligence community when their reports and information conflicts with his political ambitions.
Trump also ramped up criticisms of the migrant caravan slowly making its way to the United States. The president tweeted:
The Mayor of Tijuana, Mexico, just stated that “the City is ill-prepared to handle this many migrants, the backlog could last 6 months.” Likewise, the U.S. is ill-prepared for this invasion, and will not stand for it. They are causing crime and big problems in Mexico. Go home!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 18, 2018
So far, President Trump has made it clear that he has no intention of letting the migrants into the United States. Indeed, Trump has deployed military units to support the Department of Homeland Security personnel who will ultimately be tasked with stopping the migrants.
Trump also blasted Adam Schiff, a Democrat from California who is likely to take over the House Intelligence Committee next year. Schiff has criticized President Trump’s appointment of Matt Whitaker as acting attorney general, noting that Whitaker has not been approved by the Senate. Trump fired back:
So funny to see little Adam Schitt (D-CA) talking about the fact that Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker was not approved by the Senate, but not mentioning the fact that Bob Mueller (who is highly conflicted) was not approved by the Senate!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 18, 2018
(Take note of how Trump spelled Schiff’s name in his tweet.)
The many back and forths suggest that President Trump won’t be any less combative when Democrats take control of the House next year. 2019 could turn out to be a very tumultuous year indeed.
