Ex-White House Chief of Staff Confirms Trump’s Nasty Comments
In a statement to CNN, Kelly confirmed some of the rumors that have swirled about Donald Trump dogging U.S. veterans.

Reuters/Jonathan Ernst
Donald Trump’s former chief of staff, John Kelly, didn’t parse his words in a statement to CNN about his former boss—grilling the former president as he confirmed rumors about some of the nastiest things Trump ever muttered about U.S. veterans. Kelly’s remarks are the first on-the-record confirmation for a slew of comments by Trump that was revealed in a 2020 story by The Atlantic, which claimed Trump called veterans “suckers” and “losers,” but attributed knowledge of the insults to anonymous sources. Those anonymous insiders also told the magazine that Trump, who reportedly dodged being drafted into the Vietnam War himself, had asked his staff not to include wounded veterans in a military parade in 2018 because “nobody wants to see” amputees. Kelly confirmed those comments as being true as well as other troubling remarks by Trump in his statement to CNN, which he closed with, “God help us.”
Register below to read this article for free or subscribe
to unlock unlimited access to The Daily Beast.
Monthly
$1
First month then $5.99/month
Annual
$35
First year then $59.99/year
Premium
$79
First year then $119.99/year
*Substack access provided by the next business day, using your subscription email. Choosing the Premium plan constitutes your permission to share your subscription email with Substack and your agreement to Substack’s Privacy Policy.
Already have an account? Sign In
Looks like you already have a subscription!
You're all set!
Thanks for subscribing.