New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/01/18/opinion/trump-cabinet-election-2024.html
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/01/18/opinion/trump-cabinet-election-2024.html?smid=url-share
A president's cabinet is full of great character witnesses.
The president chose them. They said yes. They worked together closely. These cabinet-level appointees saw Donald Trump up close.
And they decided they couldn't stand by him.
OPINION
WHAT 17 OF TRUMP'S 'BEST PEOPLE' SAID ABOUT HIM
By Sarah Longwell
Ms. Longwell is the publisher of The Bulwark, a conservative news outlet, and the founder of the Republican Accountability Project.
In the history of presidential cabinets, former President Donald Trump's stands out for two qualities: turnover and dissension. Mr. Trump churned through cabinet-level appointees so fast that at times it seemed like he was still on "The Apprentice" and had to fire one official every week. These appointees didn't start out opposed to Mr. Trump. Not only are they people whom Mr. Trump chose he claimed he would hire the "best people" they are people who thought Mr. Trump was worth working for. But many of them quickly became alarmed by Mr. Trump's personality, temperament and policy aims.
This matters because, as his comfortable victory at the Iowa caucuses demonstrates, Mr. Trump is almost certain to be the Republican nominee for president for a record-matching third time (only Richard Nixon was nominated as often) and has coin-flip odds of becoming president again. Judging only by the words of many former high-level appointees, a second Trump term would be catastrophic for the country. There was endless reporting that was critical of Mr. Trump's administration. Some of this criticism may be cast as unreliable because it came from anonymous or hopelessly biased sources. But people who worked closely with Mr. Trump whom he trusted, who worked with him every day, who saw him in private when the cameras were off cannot be so easily dismissed.
Those who have spoken out must continue to do so, and those who have been content to silently hope that Mr. Trump's campaign would self-destruct should break their silence. They must take their concerns directly to the voters the only people who can save us from the disaster of a second term of President Trump.
The Servicemen
Mark Milley
A career Army officer who served in a variety of roles and regions before becoming chief of staff of the Army, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Oct. 1, 2019. Mr. Trump never fired him, but he did later suggest he deserved execution. Mr. Milley criticized Mr. Trump in a speech without naming him.
Blamed Trump for Jan. 6. Criticized Trump during his term. Criticized Trump after his term. Highlighted Trump's legal issues. Ruled out voting Trump in 2024.
Sept. 29, 2023
We don't take an oath to a country. We don't take an oath to a tribe. We don't take an oath to a religion. We don't take an oath to a king or a queen, or to a tyrant or a dictator. And we don't take an oath to a wannabe dictator."
Richard Spencer
Secretary of the Navy from Aug. 3, 2019, to Nov. 24, 2019, and a Marines veteran who spent most of his career in finance. He was fired after he asked Mr. Trump not to reverse the Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher's demotion as punishment for a war crime.
Blamed Trump for Jan. 6. Criticized Trump during his term. Criticized Trump after his term. Highlighted Trump's legal issues. Ruled out voting Trump in 2024.
Nov. 27, 2019
The president has very little understanding of what it means to be in the military, to fight ethically or to be governed by a uniform set of rules and practices."
H.R. McMaster
A career Army officer who saw combat in the Gulf War, Iraq and Afghanistan. He was the White House national security adviser from Feb. 20, 2017, to April 9, 2018. He was seen as one of the "adults in the room" until Trump replaced him via tweet.
Blamed Trump for Jan. 6. Criticized Trump during his term. Criticized Trump after his term. Highlighted Trump's legal issues. Ruled out voting Trump in 2024.
Jan. 7, 2021
President Trump and other officials have repeatedly compromised our principles in pursuit of partisan advantage and personal gain."
James Mattis
Secretary of Defense from Jan. 20, 2017, to Dec. 31, 2018, and a former four-star Marine Corps General who resigned partially over Mr. Trump's announcement of an immediate withdrawal of American troops from their fight against ISIL in Syria.
Blamed Trump for Jan. 6. Criticized Trump during his term. Criticized Trump after his term. Highlighted Trump's legal issues. Ruled out voting Trump in 2024.
June 3, 2020
Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society."
Mark Esper
Secretary of Defense from Jul. 23, 2019, to Nov. 9, 2020, and an Army veteran whose first public disagreement with Mr. Trump came when he opposed using active-duty military personnel to control protests after the death of George Floyd. He was fired before he could resign.
Blamed Trump for Jan. 6. Criticized Trump during his term Criticized Trump after his term. Highlighted Trump's legal issues. Ruled out voting Trump in 2024.
Oct. 1, 2023
I have a lot of concerns about Donald Trump. I have said that he's a threat to democracy. I think the last year, certainly the last few months of Donald Trump's presidency, will look like the first few months of the next one if that were to occur."
John Kelly
White House chief of staff from July 28, 2017, to Jan. 2, 2019, and secretary of Homeland Security from Jan. 20, 2017, to July 31, 2017. He is a retired four-star Marine Corps general who was hired to bring order to the White House.
Blamed Trump for Jan. 6. Criticized Trump during his term. Criticized Trump after his term. Highlighted Trump's legal issues. Ruled out voting Trump in 2024.
Oct. 2, 2023
A person who admires autocrats and murderous dictators. A person that has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution and the rule of law."
The Party Loyalists
Elaine Chao
Secretary of Transportation from Jan. 31, 2017, to Jan. 11, 2021, and secretary of Labor under George W. Bush. She resigned after the events of Jan. 6 and has faced consistent racist attacks from Mr. Trump ever since.
Blamed Trump for Jan. 6, Criticized Trump during his term. Criticized Trump after his term. Highlighted
Trump's legal issues Ruled out voting Trump in 2024.
Aug. 4. 2022
I think the events at the Capitol, however they occurred, were shocking. And it was something that, as I mentioned in my statement, that I could not put aside."
Alex Azar
Secretary of Health and Human Services from Jan. 29, 2018, to Jan. 20, 2021, and an attorney and former pharmaceutical executive. He remained through Mr. Trump's term but criticized him for the events of Jan. 6 on his way out.
Blamed Trump for Jan. 6. Criticized Trump during his term. Criticized Trump after his term. Highlighted Trump's legal issues. Ruled out voting Trump in 2024.
Jan. 12, 2021
Unfortunately, the actions and rhetoric following the election, especially during this past week, threaten to tarnish these and other historic legacies of this administration. The attacks on the Capitol were an assault on our democracy and on the tradition of peaceful transitions of power that the United States of America first brought to the world."
Rex Tillerson
Secretary of State from Feb. 1, 2017, to March 31, 2018, and a businessman who spent his entire career at ExxonMobil. Mr. Trump publicly challenged him to "I.Q. tests" before apparently thinking better of it and firing him by tweet.
Blamed Trump for Jan. 6. Criticized Trump during his term. Criticized Trump after his term. Highlighted Trump's legal issues. Ruled out voting Trump in 2024.
July 20, 2017
Moron," Mr. Tillerson reportedly said of Mr. Trump.
Dan Coats
Director of National Intelligence from March 16, 2017, to Aug. 15, 2019, and a former senator and U.S. ambassador to Germany. He butted heads with Mr. Trump over Russia's election interference and criticized him for his handling of classified documents.
Blamed Trump for Jan. 6. Criticized Trump during his term. Criticized Trump after his term.
Highlighted Trump's legal issues. Ruled out voting Trump in 2024.
July 27, 2023
It's more than just a bunch of papers and what big deal is this and so forth. Lives can be lost."
Betsy DeVos
Secretary of Education from Feb. 7, 2017, to Jan. 8, 2021, who was chair of the Republican Party of Michigan. She resigned after the riots of Jan. 6, placing the blame on Mr. Trump for his incendiary rhetoric.
Blamed Trump for Jan. 6. Criticized Trump during his term. Criticized Trump after his term.
Highlighted Trump's legal issues. Ruled out voting Trump in 2024.
Oct. 13, 2022
I didn't feel he did what he needed to do to stop what was happening."
Mick Mulvaney
Acting White House chief of staff from Jan. 2, 2019, to March 31, 2020, director of the Office of Management and Budget from Feb. 16, 2017, to March 31, 2020, and a former congressman from South Carolina. He wrote an op-ed published just after the 2020 election claiming that Mr. Trump would "concede gracefully" if he lost.
Blamed Trump for Jan. 6. Criticized Trump during his term. Criticized Trump after his term.
Highlighted Trump's legal issues. Ruled out voting Trump in 2024.
Jan. 7, 2021
It will always be, 'Oh, yeah, you work for the guy who tried to overtake the government.'"
William Barr
Attorney general from Feb. 14, 2019, to Dec. 23, 2020, and a lawyer who worked for the C.I.A. before becoming attorney general under George H.W. Bush. He resigned over Mr. Trump's claims of election fraud after the 2020 election.
Blamed Trump for Jan. 6. Criticized Trump during his term. Criticized Trump after his term. Highlighted
Trump's legal issues. Ruled out voting Trump in 2024.
June 18, 2023
The fact of the matter is he is a consummate narcissist and he constantly engages in reckless conduct that puts his political followers at risk and the conservative and Republican agenda at risk. … He will always put his own interest and gratifying his own ego ahead of everything else, including the country's interest. There's no question about it. … He's like a 9-year-old, a defiant 9-year-old kid, who's always pushing the glass toward the edge of the table defying his parents to stop him from doing it."
John Bolton
White House national security adviser from April 9, 2018, to Sept. 10, 2019. He is a lawyer who was assistant attorney general for Ronald Reagan and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Whether he was fired or resigned is a matter of dispute.
Blamed Trump for Jan. 6. Criticized Trump during his term. Criticized Trump after his term. Highlighted
Trump's legal issues. Ruled out voting Trump in 2024.
June 22, 2023
By the time I left the White House,
I was convinced he was not fit to be president. … I think it is a danger for the United States if he gets a second term."
The Candidates
Mike Pompeo
Secretary of State from April 26, 2018, to Jan. 20, 2021, and director of the C.I.A. from Jan. 23, 2017, to April 26, 2018. He was a former Army officer and former congressman from Kansas who flirted with a presidential run while making oblique criticisms of Mr. Trump.
Blamed Trump for Jan. 6. Criticized Trump during his term. Criticized Trump after his term. Highlighted Trump's legal issues.
Ruled out voting Trump in 2024.
Nov. 15, 2022
We need more seriousness, less noise, and leaders who are looking forward, not staring in the rearview mirror claiming victimhood."
Mike Pence
Vice president from Jan. 20, 2017, to Jan. 20, 2021, and a former governor of Indiana. Mr. Trump said the rioters chanting "Hang Mike Pence" on Jan. 6 had some legitimate gripes, given Mr. Pence declined to overturn the results of the election. He later made a short-lived run for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
Blamed Trump for Jan. 6. Criticized Trump during his term. Criticized Trump after his term. Highlighted Trump's legal issues. Ruled out voting Trump in 2024.
Aug. 23, 2023
He asked me to put him over the Constitution and I chose the Constitution, and I always will."
Nikki Haley
U.N. ambassador from Jan. 25, 2017, to Dec. 31, 2018, and a former governor of South Carolina. She criticized Mr. Trump after Jan. 6, but her presidential run has seen her attempt to maintain her distance from him more diplomatically.
Blamed Trump for Jan. 6. Criticized Trump during his term. Criticized Trump after his term. Highlighted
Trump's legal issues. Ruled out voting Trump in 2024.
Jan. 8, 2021
He went down a path he shouldn't have, and we shouldn't have followed him and we shouldn't have listened to him. And we can't let that ever happen again."
Illustrated by Peter Arkle; Designed and produced by Ak****a Chandra
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/01/18/opinion/trump-cabinet-election-2024.html
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/01/18/opinion/trump-cabinet-election-2024.html?smid=url-share
A president's cabinet is full of great character witnesses.
The president chose them. They said yes. They worked together closely. These cabinet-level appointees saw Donald Trump up close.
And they decided they couldn't stand by him.
OPINION
WHAT 17 OF TRUMP'S 'BEST PEOPLE' SAID ABOUT HIM
By Sarah Longwell
Ms. Longwell is the publisher of The Bulwark, a conservative news outlet, and the founder of the Republican Accountability Project.
In the history of presidential cabinets, former President Donald Trump's stands out for two qualities: turnover and dissension. Mr. Trump churned through cabinet-level appointees so fast that at times it seemed like he was still on "The Apprentice" and had to fire one official every week. These appointees didn't start out opposed to Mr. Trump. Not only are they people whom Mr. Trump chose he claimed he would hire the "best people" they are people who thought Mr. Trump was worth working for. But many of them quickly became alarmed by Mr. Trump's personality, temperament and policy aims.
This matters because, as his comfortable victory at the Iowa caucuses demonstrates, Mr. Trump is almost certain to be the Republican nominee for president for a record-matching third time (only Richard Nixon was nominated as often) and has coin-flip odds of becoming president again. Judging only by the words of many former high-level appointees, a second Trump term would be catastrophic for the country. There was endless reporting that was critical of Mr. Trump's administration. Some of this criticism may be cast as unreliable because it came from anonymous or hopelessly biased sources. But people who worked closely with Mr. Trump whom he trusted, who worked with him every day, who saw him in private when the cameras were off cannot be so easily dismissed.
Those who have spoken out must continue to do so, and those who have been content to silently hope that Mr. Trump's campaign would self-destruct should break their silence. They must take their concerns directly to the voters the only people who can save us from the disaster of a second term of President Trump.
The Servicemen
Mark Milley
A career Army officer who served in a variety of roles and regions before becoming chief of staff of the Army, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Oct. 1, 2019. Mr. Trump never fired him, but he did later suggest he deserved execution. Mr. Milley criticized Mr. Trump in a speech without naming him.
Blamed Trump for Jan. 6. Criticized Trump during his term. Criticized Trump after his term. Highlighted Trump's legal issues. Ruled out voting Trump in 2024.
Sept. 29, 2023
We don't take an oath to a country. We don't take an oath to a tribe. We don't take an oath to a religion. We don't take an oath to a king or a queen, or to a tyrant or a dictator. And we don't take an oath to a wannabe dictator."
Richard Spencer
Secretary of the Navy from Aug. 3, 2019, to Nov. 24, 2019, and a Marines veteran who spent most of his career in finance. He was fired after he asked Mr. Trump not to reverse the Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher's demotion as punishment for a war crime.
Blamed Trump for Jan. 6. Criticized Trump during his term. Criticized Trump after his term. Highlighted Trump's legal issues. Ruled out voting Trump in 2024.
Nov. 27, 2019
The president has very little understanding of what it means to be in the military, to fight ethically or to be governed by a uniform set of rules and practices."
H.R. McMaster
A career Army officer who saw combat in the Gulf War, Iraq and Afghanistan. He was the White House national security adviser from Feb. 20, 2017, to April 9, 2018. He was seen as one of the "adults in the room" until Trump replaced him via tweet.
Blamed Trump for Jan. 6. Criticized Trump during his term. Criticized Trump after his term. Highlighted Trump's legal issues. Ruled out voting Trump in 2024.
Jan. 7, 2021
President Trump and other officials have repeatedly compromised our principles in pursuit of partisan advantage and personal gain."
James Mattis
Secretary of Defense from Jan. 20, 2017, to Dec. 31, 2018, and a former four-star Marine Corps General who resigned partially over Mr. Trump's announcement of an immediate withdrawal of American troops from their fight against ISIL in Syria.
Blamed Trump for Jan. 6. Criticized Trump during his term. Criticized Trump after his term. Highlighted Trump's legal issues. Ruled out voting Trump in 2024.
June 3, 2020
Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society."
Mark Esper
Secretary of Defense from Jul. 23, 2019, to Nov. 9, 2020, and an Army veteran whose first public disagreement with Mr. Trump came when he opposed using active-duty military personnel to control protests after the death of George Floyd. He was fired before he could resign.
Blamed Trump for Jan. 6. Criticized Trump during his term Criticized Trump after his term. Highlighted Trump's legal issues. Ruled out voting Trump in 2024.
Oct. 1, 2023
I have a lot of concerns about Donald Trump. I have said that he's a threat to democracy. I think the last year, certainly the last few months of Donald Trump's presidency, will look like the first few months of the next one if that were to occur."
John Kelly
White House chief of staff from July 28, 2017, to Jan. 2, 2019, and secretary of Homeland Security from Jan. 20, 2017, to July 31, 2017. He is a retired four-star Marine Corps general who was hired to bring order to the White House.
Blamed Trump for Jan. 6. Criticized Trump during his term. Criticized Trump after his term. Highlighted Trump's legal issues. Ruled out voting Trump in 2024.
Oct. 2, 2023
A person who admires autocrats and murderous dictators. A person that has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution and the rule of law."
The Party Loyalists
Elaine Chao
Secretary of Transportation from Jan. 31, 2017, to Jan. 11, 2021, and secretary of Labor under George W. Bush. She resigned after the events of Jan. 6 and has faced consistent racist attacks from Mr. Trump ever since.
Blamed Trump for Jan. 6, Criticized Trump during his term. Criticized Trump after his term. Highlighted
Trump's legal issues Ruled out voting Trump in 2024.
Aug. 4. 2022
I think the events at the Capitol, however they occurred, were shocking. And it was something that, as I mentioned in my statement, that I could not put aside."
Alex Azar
Secretary of Health and Human Services from Jan. 29, 2018, to Jan. 20, 2021, and an attorney and former pharmaceutical executive. He remained through Mr. Trump's term but criticized him for the events of Jan. 6 on his way out.
Blamed Trump for Jan. 6. Criticized Trump during his term. Criticized Trump after his term. Highlighted Trump's legal issues. Ruled out voting Trump in 2024.
Jan. 12, 2021
Unfortunately, the actions and rhetoric following the election, especially during this past week, threaten to tarnish these and other historic legacies of this administration. The attacks on the Capitol were an assault on our democracy and on the tradition of peaceful transitions of power that the United States of America first brought to the world."
Rex Tillerson
Secretary of State from Feb. 1, 2017, to March 31, 2018, and a businessman who spent his entire career at ExxonMobil. Mr. Trump publicly challenged him to "I.Q. tests" before apparently thinking better of it and firing him by tweet.
Blamed Trump for Jan. 6. Criticized Trump during his term. Criticized Trump after his term. Highlighted Trump's legal issues. Ruled out voting Trump in 2024.
July 20, 2017
Moron," Mr. Tillerson reportedly said of Mr. Trump.
Dan Coats
Director of National Intelligence from March 16, 2017, to Aug. 15, 2019, and a former senator and U.S. ambassador to Germany. He butted heads with Mr. Trump over Russia's election interference and criticized him for his handling of classified documents.
Blamed Trump for Jan. 6. Criticized Trump during his term. Criticized Trump after his term.
Highlighted Trump's legal issues. Ruled out voting Trump in 2024.
July 27, 2023
It's more than just a bunch of papers and what big deal is this and so forth. Lives can be lost."
Betsy DeVos
Secretary of Education from Feb. 7, 2017, to Jan. 8, 2021, who was chair of the Republican Party of Michigan. She resigned after the riots of Jan. 6, placing the blame on Mr. Trump for his incendiary rhetoric.
Blamed Trump for Jan. 6. Criticized Trump during his term. Criticized Trump after his term.
Highlighted Trump's legal issues. Ruled out voting Trump in 2024.
Oct. 13, 2022
I didn't feel he did what he needed to do to stop what was happening."
Mick Mulvaney
Acting White House chief of staff from Jan. 2, 2019, to March 31, 2020, director of the Office of Management and Budget from Feb. 16, 2017, to March 31, 2020, and a former congressman from South Carolina. He wrote an op-ed published just after the 2020 election claiming that Mr. Trump would "concede gracefully" if he lost.
Blamed Trump for Jan. 6. Criticized Trump during his term. Criticized Trump after his term.
Highlighted Trump's legal issues. Ruled out voting Trump in 2024.
Jan. 7, 2021
It will always be, 'Oh, yeah, you work for the guy who tried to overtake the government.'"
William Barr
Attorney general from Feb. 14, 2019, to Dec. 23, 2020, and a lawyer who worked for the C.I.A. before becoming attorney general under George H.W. Bush. He resigned over Mr. Trump's claims of election fraud after the 2020 election.
Blamed Trump for Jan. 6. Criticized Trump during his term. Criticized Trump after his term. Highlighted
Trump's legal issues. Ruled out voting Trump in 2024.
June 18, 2023
The fact of the matter is he is a consummate narcissist and he constantly engages in reckless conduct that puts his political followers at risk and the conservative and Republican agenda at risk. … He will always put his own interest and gratifying his own ego ahead of everything else, including the country's interest. There's no question about it. … He's like a 9-year-old, a defiant 9-year-old kid, who's always pushing the glass toward the edge of the table defying his parents to stop him from doing it."
John Bolton
White House national security adviser from April 9, 2018, to Sept. 10, 2019. He is a lawyer who was assistant attorney general for Ronald Reagan and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Whether he was fired or resigned is a matter of dispute.
Blamed Trump for Jan. 6. Criticized Trump during his term. Criticized Trump after his term. Highlighted
Trump's legal issues. Ruled out voting Trump in 2024.
June 22, 2023
By the time I left the White House,
I was convinced he was not fit to be president. … I think it is a danger for the United States if he gets a second term."
The Candidates
Mike Pompeo
Secretary of State from April 26, 2018, to Jan. 20, 2021, and director of the C.I.A. from Jan. 23, 2017, to April 26, 2018. He was a former Army officer and former congressman from Kansas who flirted with a presidential run while making oblique criticisms of Mr. Trump.
Blamed Trump for Jan. 6. Criticized Trump during his term. Criticized Trump after his term. Highlighted Trump's legal issues.
Ruled out voting Trump in 2024.
Nov. 15, 2022
We need more seriousness, less noise, and leaders who are looking forward, not staring in the rearview mirror claiming victimhood."
Mike Pence
Vice president from Jan. 20, 2017, to Jan. 20, 2021, and a former governor of Indiana. Mr. Trump said the rioters chanting "Hang Mike Pence" on Jan. 6 had some legitimate gripes, given Mr. Pence declined to overturn the results of the election. He later made a short-lived run for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
Blamed Trump for Jan. 6. Criticized Trump during his term. Criticized Trump after his term. Highlighted Trump's legal issues. Ruled out voting Trump in 2024.
Aug. 23, 2023
He asked me to put him over the Constitution and I chose the Constitution, and I always will."
Nikki Haley
U.N. ambassador from Jan. 25, 2017, to Dec. 31, 2018, and a former governor of South Carolina. She criticized Mr. Trump after Jan. 6, but her presidential run has seen her attempt to maintain her distance from him more diplomatically.
Blamed Trump for Jan. 6. Criticized Trump during his term. Criticized Trump after his term. Highlighted
Trump's legal issues. Ruled out voting Trump in 2024.
Jan. 8, 2021
He went down a path he shouldn't have, and we shouldn't have followed him and we shouldn't have listened to him. And we can't let that ever happen again."
Illustrated by Peter Arkle; Designed and produced by Ak****a Chandra
