USA: Former Chief of Staff Kelly causes a stir with Trump's words about Hitler

Handelsblatt USA: Former Chief of Staff Kelly causes a stir with Trump's words about Hitler Article by , dpa • 3 days • 2 minutes reading time Donald Trump's former Chief of Staff John Kelly reports on the ex-president's comments on Adolf Hitler. Among other things, Trump said he wanted generals as loyal as "Hitler's generals". Two weeks before the US presidential election, Donald Trump's former Chief of Staff John Kelly is causing a stir with comments about the ex-president's attitude to Adolf Hitler. "You know, Hitler did some good things too," he said he heard Trump say several times, Kelly told the New York Times. He then referred to Hitler's racism and fascism as the motive for his actions, after which the conversation mostly dried up, Kelly said in the interview published on Tuesday. Kelly confirmed to The Atlantic magazine that Trump had said in one conversation that he wanted generals as loyal as "Hitler's generals". A spokesman for Trump's campaign team denied that Trump had said that. The Trump camp had previously questioned Kelly's credibility. Kelly: Trump falls under "general definition of a fascist" The former US Marine Corps general was Trump's chief of staff in the White House from 2017 to 2019. He has already been considered the source of similar revelations in recent years, including in books about the Trump presidency, but now speaks directly in the two interviews. Kelly also told the New York Times that in his view Trump "falls under the general definition of a fascist." He referred to the description of fascism as an extreme right-wing, authoritarian and ultra-nationalist ideology that includes a dictatorial leader and suppression of the opposition. Based on his experience, Trump thinks that America would be better governed this way, Kelly said. To justify his decision to take a public stance, 74-year-old Kelly referred to Trump's recent comments about "internal enemies," among which the former president counted several well-known Democratic politicians.