Schmidt tells the story of how Kelly and Pentagon officials attempted to talk Trump down from firing nukes on North Korea or push Kim to starting a war. They told him thousands of people would die, and that didn't bother him. They told him it could destroy the economy, and that didn't bother him. Finally, Kelly hit on the only thing that has ever made an impact on Trump: flattery. Kelly talked to Trump about how he's the ultimate dealmaker, and if he could placate Kim, it would make Trump the only president in history to be able to do it. Voilà! Also explains Trump's ensuing bragging that we would have gone to war with North Korea under Obama, but he, Trump, saved us.
Schmidt says Kelly's days consisted entirely of dealing with a man who was dumber and more narcissistic than he could have ever imagined ("I didn't know they made people like that."), and who would come down to the Oval Office late every morning obsessed with whatever he had seen on TV that morning. Kelly gets up at 3:30 am every day to watch cable news in order to be prepared.
I suppose the world is lucky Kelly lasted as long as he did in that position. It must have been absolutely excruciating and exhausting.
No comments:
Post a Comment