John Kelly should spill the beans

(Image credit: Illustrated | RONALDO SCHEMIDT/AFP/Getty Images, Oliver Contreras-Pool/Getty Images)

published 10 December 2018

Dear General John Kelly:

There can be no doubt that when you accepted a position in President Trump's Cabinet, you did so out of a sense of duty. Your views on border security and concerns about immigration and social cohesion seem genuinely felt. I believed you when you said that running the Department of Homeland Security, if only for six months, was "one of the great honors" of your life — a life that already had many great honors and achievements to its credit.

I wonder, though. When did you begin to feel a twinge of doubt? Was it when, reportedly "stunned," you watched the president sign the "travel ban" executive order that you believed was still under discussion? Or was it sooner than that? Perhaps even during the transition period in Bedminster, New Jersey? Whatever it was that drove you to the brink — the end-running around your authority by the two-headed monster known as "Javanka," or, needless to say, Trump's own mercurial fits and rages and stupidity — nearly every decent American could sympathize with you when you joked that your tenure as White House chief of staff was tantamount to a punishment from God.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

When the president would say, "Here's what I want to do, and here's how I want to do it," and I'd have to say to him, "Well, Mr. President, I understand what you want to do, but you can't do it that way. It violates the law, it violates the treaty, you know." He got really frustrated … I think he grew tired of me being the guy every day who told him he can't do that and let's talk about what he can do. [Tillerson]

Hold that thought. Because I'm sure that Trump's crude response to Tillerson ("dumb as a rock," "lazy as hell") is crossing your mind. Maybe you're thinking, wouldn't it just be easier to leave on relatively decent terms? I'm still a decorated general officer. I tried my best to wade through the "cesspool of domestic politics." The president still refers to me as a "great guy." Why not leave it that?

Maybe you'd prefer a long period of reflection. Maybe you're planning on writing a memoir, with your tumultuous tenure in the Trump administration merely a footnote to a distinguished career of military service and valor. But the public needs to know the truth now. The "adults in the room," as men like you and Defense Secretary James Mattis are called in the Washington press corps, are always mentioned in the context of having prevented Trump from his worst impulses. The public deserves to know exactly where those impulses would have led us.

Scott Galupo is a freelance writer living in Virginia. In addition to The Week, he blogs for U.S. News and reviews live music for The Washington Post. He was formerly a senior contributor to the American Conservative and staff writer for The Washington Times. He was also an aide to Rep. John Boehner. He lives with his wife and two children and writes about politics to support his guitar habit.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox