News

Former White House Chief Of Staff John Kelly Reveals Policy Disputes With Trump On Immigration, Vindman & North Korea

Former Chief of Staff John Kelly explained his problems with President Donald Trump at a paid event Wednesday night at Drew University in New Jersey.

He admitted he clashed with the president on several issues while working as chief of staff, including his language regarding illegal immigration and foreign policy.

While he helped facilitate the construction of Trump’s border wall and decrease illegal immigration, he disagreed with the president’s characterization of illegal migrants.

“They’re overwhelmingly good people … They’re not all rapists and they’re not all murderers,” Kelly said. “And it’s wrong to characterize them that way. I disagreed with the president a number of times.”

Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter!

A week of political news in your in-box.
We find the news you need to know, so you don't have to.

He also argued that Trump’s efforts to befriend North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and convince him to denuclearize were futile.

“He will never give his nuclear weapons up,” Kelly said. “Again, President Trump tried … that’s one way to put it. But it didn’t work. I’m an optimist most of the time, but I’m also a realist, and I never did think Kim would do anything other than play us for a while, and he did that fairly effectively.”

He then defended Lt. Col Alexander Vindman, who was fired last week in response to him testifying against Trump during the House’s impeachment hearings.

“He did exactly what we teach them to do from cradle to grave,” Kelly told the audience. “He went and told his boss what he just heard.”

Kelly said that Vindman viewed Trump telling the president of Ukraine to investigate a political as “an illegal order.”

“We teach them, ‘Don’t follow an illegal order. And if you’re ever given one, you’ll raise it to whoever gives it to you that this is an illegal order, and then tell your boss,’” he said in defense of Vindman.

Kelly left his post in December 2018, having served just over a year in the role.

“I’m disappointed in myself for leaving, but it was a killer, I mean, no joke,” Kelly said Wednesday.

Katherine Huggins

Share
Published by
Katherine Huggins

Recent Posts

Trump Has Lowest Approval Rating At 100-Day Mark Of Any President In 80 Years, New Polls Show

Several new polls show that President Donald Trump has earned the lowest approval rating of…

49 mins ago

Sens. Bernie Sanders & Josh Hawley Join Forces Across Party Lines For Bill To Cap Credit Card Interest Rates

Republicans and Democrats have united their efforts to promote economic relief to Americans, especially those…

1 day ago

FBI Director Kash Patel Mocked For Donning Combat Fatigues In Recruitment Video, Embracing Limelight More Than Previous Directors

Unlike the FBI directors before him, Kash Patel seems to love the limelight. Last week,…

1 day ago

Trump Insists He’s ‘Not Trolling’ About Acquiring Greenland & Making Canada 51st State

President Donald Trump insisted he's "not trolling" about his demands to acquire Greenland and make…

2 days ago

Trump Slams Ukrainian President Zelensky For Refusal To Recognize Russian Control Of Crimea

President Donald Trump criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for refusing to acknowledge Russia's control of…

2 days ago

Trump Hosts Top 220 Investors Of His Meme Coin, $Trump, To ‘Intimate Private Dinner’ & White House Tour

President Donald Trump invited the top 220 investors of his cryptocurrency, $Trump, to a private…

3 days ago