Donald Trump.Photo: Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty
While on a trip to Europe to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I,Donald Trumpreportedly said that reviled dictator Adolf Hitler “did a lot of good things,” a new book alleges.
In his upcoming book,Frankly,WeDidWinThisElection:TheInsideStoryofHowTrumpLost,The Wall Street Journal’s Michael C. Bender reportedly writes that Trump, now 75, made the remark to his then-chief of staff, John Kelly.
The book further details how Trump cited Germany’s economic recovery in the 1930s as an example of his claim, to which Kelly “reminded the president which countries were on which side during the conflict.”
Bender claims in the book, according to theGuardianexcerpt, that Kelly continued to push back and said that German residents would have “been better off poor than subjected to the Nazi genocide.” Hitler, of course, led the Nazi party and orchestrated the Holocaust, during which millions were murdered.
In the excerpt of Bender’s book, Kelly, a former Marine Corps general, allegedly also told the former president during the exchange: “You cannot ever say anything supportive of Adolf Hitler.”
Trump spokesperson Liz Harringtondisputed the claimsin a statement published on Twitter Wednesday.
Kelly, 71, left his position in 2018, with Trump telling reporters at the time: “John Kelly will be leaving — I don’t know if I can say retiring — but he’s a great guy. John Kelly will be leaving at the end of the year.”
Listen below toour daily podcast PEOPLE Every Dayfor more on Michael C. Bender’s new bookFrankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost.
Trump has a long history of praising authoritarian leaders, describing some of history’s worst dictators and strongmenin glowing terms.
Trump has also repeatedly praised and never publicly criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin, the strongman leader of a country where vocal opponents are mysteriously poisoned or die.
During aSeptember 7, 2016 broadcast with NBC’sMatt Lauer, Trump said Putin “is really very much of a leader,” and “has very strong control over a country.”
Bender’s book will be released July 13.
source: people.com
