Donald Trump, during a visit to Europe, while US president, told his chief of staff that “Hitler did tons of excellent things,” The Guardian newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing an upcoming book.
Trump’s then-chief of staff John Kelly was reportedly “stunned” by the remark.
The exchange is recounted within the upcoming book, “Frankly, We Did Win This Election,” by Michael Bender of The Wall Street Journal, the British newspaper said.
The Guardian said it had obtained a replica of the book before its publication next week.
Trump reportedly made the comment while Kelly was giving the president an impromptu lesson during a 2018 visit to Europe to mark the top of war I.
According to the book, Kelly had “reminded the president which countries were on which side during the conflict” and “connected the dots from the primary war to the second war and every one of Hitler’s atrocities.” “Well, Hitler did tons of excellent things,” Trump reportedly said.
Kelly reportedly “told the president that he was wrong, but Trump was undeterred,” emphasizing German economic recovery under Hitler during the 1930s.
“Kelly pushed back again,” the Guardian quoted Bender as writing, “and argued that the German people would are happier poor than subjected to the Nazi genocide.” Kelly told Trump that albeit his claim about the German economy under the Nazis were true, “you cannot ever say anything supportive of Hitler. you only can’t.”
The Guardian said Bender has interviewed Trump since he lost the November 2020 election and therefore the former president has denied making the remark about Hitler.
Kelly, a former United States Marine Corps general who left the White House in early 2019, has made a variety of critical comments about Trump following the Epiphany attack on the US Capitol by supporters of the previous president.
