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[ken_matthews]

In context, Trump is just using this as an excuse to blow off the informed expertise that disagrees with his hot take on the situation. He does this constantly by using "people tell me" and "everyone knows" to justify unsupported claims and this is no different.

Even if we assume Trump is operating in good faith here: the experience and feedback of workers is valuable for the business functions they interact with. Servers in a restaurant can probably tell you a lot about what's going right or wrong for the business because their job interacts with all of it. Oil rig workers can probably not tell you much about Exxon's global business strategy. Soldiers in a war can tell you a lot about the shit they personally have to deal with, which may be revealing of larger problems (like the logistics of the Iraq war with soldiers not getting body armor), but to have this kind of anti-elitist framing around a conversation that included pillaging mineral rights is insane.

In regards to your second paragraph, I totally agree, which is why I included that last sentence in what I wrote. But that state of mind is salient to effective leadership and not necessarily a reflection of ego or anti-elitist tendencies. But we are talking about Trump, so you are probably more right than wrong on this one.

But I think his "people tell me" shtick is more of a rhetorical technique or common locution than an insight into how he views the world. Again, I could be wrong, but I would not read too much into specific phrases or his habits of speech. We may not be impressed by how he communicates, but he did convince half the country to elect him; consider that for whatever it is worth.

 

[Palette Swap]

It's amazing how blatant he is with war pillaging for profit but no one calls him on it.

Imagine if he acts out a Blackwater reboot.

 

[Byakuya769]

This is deeply concerning. I'm troubled. I'll go pen an Op Ed.

 

[Slayven]

This is deeply concerning. I'm troubled. I'll go pen an Op Ed.

I would pay to see a NYT or WaPo byline that says "Byakuya"

 

[nicanica]

Army Generals in that room probably were thinkin:

"Man. I miss the Negro...."

 

[Epsilon-delta]

If we have a serious conflict he is going to get so many people killed

Nah, Trump is so dumb that the Joint Chiefs of Staff would feel compelled to step in and steer Trump away from disaster.

 

[Slayven]

Nah, Trump is so dumb that the Joint Chiefs of Staff would feel compelled to step in and steer Trump away from disaster.

I imagine them giving him a Risk game and let him pretend in the corner

 

[rpmurphy]

What's the going exchange rate between the lives of American and other NATO forces and these minerals?

 

[Epsilon-delta]

I imagine them giving him a Risk game and let him pretend in the corner

Lol, basically.

 

[Strike]

It's amazing how blatant he is with war pillaging for profit but no one calls him on it.

How people convinced themselves that he was anything resembling dovish on foreign policy I'll never understand.

 

[innervision961]

so GOP pundits let me ask you
are US army generals now the "enemy" too

"They probably donated to the clintons!"

If they can paint Mueller as a partisan hack they will go to any depth to keep sucking that Trump steak.

 

[TheLaughingStock]

If we have a serious conflict he is going to get so many people killed

The US has been in Afghanistan well over decade and 10s of thousands are dead prior to Trump taking office.

 

[theWB27]

The US has been in Afghanistan well over decade and 10s of thousands are dead prior to Trump taking office.

That doesn't really change what you quoted.

 

[Mahonay]

Make sure to thank all of your beloved Republicans, military personnel, look at the wonderful Dear Leader they've handed you. The biggliest Commander in Chief.

 

[j_k_redtail]

Two Pentagon officials close to Mattis said he returned from the White House that morning visibly upset. Mattis often takes a walk when grappling with an issue. That afternoon, the walk took longer than usual, the officials said.

In the movie, this would be the end of Act 1 (of 3). Or perhaps the end of Act 2 (of 5)?

 

[HotHamBoy]

"Nobody knew war could be so complicated."

 

[Dubbedinenglish]

In the movie, this would be the end of Act 1 (of 3). Or perhaps the end of Act 2 (of 5)?

This will be in the Kelly-Mattis solo film

 

[Byakuya769]

I would pay to see a NYT or WaPo byline that says "Byakuya"

Lol!

 

[Fergie]

Trump really wants to be a dictator.

 

[norm9]

This will be in the Kelly-Mattis solo film

They can be in the Problem Child reboot.

 

[Apt101]

It's amazing how blatant he is with war pillaging for profit but no one calls him on it.

Many people who voted for him want us to pillage the places we fight in. I mean, we kind of already do by at least enriching private contractors in every conflict. Those places suffer so companies like Blackwater / Xi / whatever they're named now can get bank.

 

[MechaX]

He's basically going to get ignored soon, isn't he

I imagine this is what Mattis is already doing.

 

[Spoiled Milk]

inquired about the United States getting a piece of Afghan's mineral wealth

trump daddy will restore our empire, suck it libs, credere, obbedire, combattere!

 

[Muppet of a Man]

Mattis not punching him in the face is a remarkable display of restraint

I would pay good money to see him get punched in the face by one of these generals.

 

[Ithil]

He's a fucking idiot with his head up his ass. Not new information there.

 

[Number_6]

Is that x axis labelled... 'No nothing'?

Know, sir, it's a point on the x-axis that's labelled 'no nothing'.

Nobel Prize Psychology!

 

[n00bsauce87]

It's amazing how blatant he is with war pillaging for profit but no one calls him on it.

That's because that's the goal when politicians say, American interests overseas.

No one should be surprised. The goal is always the pillage valuable resources.

 

[VariantX]

Every day its some new bullshit with this guy. He is steadily working himself right out of office and that's long before anything having to do with the investigation lead by Mueller takes effect.

 

[Travo]

So the draft dodger is telling the military what they are doing wrong.

 

[ZackieChan]

What's the Venn diagram of 3 star generals who are also waiters and low ranking staff? because it sounds like that's where his mind is at.

This is as close as it gets

 

[BlastProcessing]

It's interesting and significant that we are getting leaks from the Situation Room.

 

[shnurgleton]

You 👏 Can't 👏 Run 👏 A 👏 Country 👏 Like 👏 A 👏 Business

 

[Tall4Life]

Trump explaining the Afghan War to generals... are we seeing the birth of Trumpsplaining?

 

[linkboy]

I'm so glad I got out of the military before this shit stain totally fucks everything up more then it already is.

 

[ShironRedshift]

You 👏 Can't 👏 Run 👏 A 👏 Country 👏 Like 👏 A 👏 Business

Nobody really even wants the country run like a business anyway. Running a business naturally involves making as much money as you can. That is, maximizing your revenue stream. What's the revenue stream for a country? Taxes. Ergo, if you really wanted to run a country like you would a business, that would involve pushing taxes up as high as you can possibly get away with (in effect, maximizing revenue). But few people actually want to do that, for obvious reasons. Just empty rhetoric that most people don't even bother to think about for more than 5 seconds, or else it would completely collapse in on itself.

 

[Shauni]

He's basically going to get ignored soon, isn't he

I mean, he can never be fully ignored, but yeah, his status is becoming a lame duck President pretty quickly. The sanctions bill already saw Congress strong-arm him, and the fact that he's made no attempt to do anything official on his transgender ban in the military probably says a lot about how much pull he really has with the military.

 

[Apt101]

It must suck to be this career military man, with your degrees and decades of training and experience and possibly even battle scars, then have that know-nothing turd dress you down.

 

[antonz]

New York times is reporting that Trump is considering firing McMasters as National Security Advisor and reassigning him to lead Afghanistan Military Operations. Pompeo would replace McMasters as NSA.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/02/...l-flynn-allies-national-security-council.html

 

[Log4Girlz]

so GOP pundits let me ask you
are US army generals now the "enemy" too

Where were they during Benghazi?

 

[PlayALLtheGames]

First mouthing off about getting Iraq's oil and now Afghanistan's minerals.

This worthless piece of shit doesn't know/care about the fact that stealing a country's resources is considered a war crime and how much more danger those kinds of moves would put troops (and America) in.

No attempt to understand the military conflicts we're in and strategy, no comprehension of geopolitical issues, indifference to/ignorance of international law, no coherent or intelligent thoughts about fucking anything. Just the rambling bullshit of a guy with as much understanding about how the world works as a high-school dropout.

If you can't see how big of a fucking idiot this guy is, you yourself are a fucking idiot.

 

[antonz]

First mouthing off about getting Iraq's oil and now Afghanistan's minerals.

This worthless piece of shit doesn't know/care about the fact that stealing a country's resources is considered a war crime and how much more danger those kinds of moves would put troops (and America) in.

No strategic intellect, no attempt to understand the military conflicts we're in, no comprehension of geopolitical issues, indifference to/ignorance of international law, no coherent or intelligent thoughts about fucking anything. Just the rambling bullshit of a guy with as much understanding about how the world works as a high-school dropout.

If you can't see how big of a fucking idiot this guy is, you yourself are a fucking idiot.

Afghanistan is playing Trump right now. Afghanistan's President has repeatedly spoken to Trump about the vast Mineral Reserves in Afghanistan as a way to try and convince Trump not to just leave. They won't give the US shit but they know Trump operates on a one track mind so just the appearance of talking Mineral wealth locks trumps attention

 

[Smiles and Cries]

New York times is reporting that Trump is considering firing McMasters as National Security Advisor and reassigning him to lead Afghanistan Military Operations. Pompeo would replace McMasters as NSA.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/02/...l-flynn-allies-national-security-council.html

this fool who keeps playing games with military folks, he has no repect for their positions.
the guy keeps poking and poking for no good reasons

 

[aeolist]

hey, stealing resources from countries we invade is neera tanden's idea, give her some credit trump

 

[dr3upmushroom]

I think you mean Hillary and Obama.

Somehow...

Benjamin Gahzi will come out from the deep state network and sabotage Trump's great strategic plans.

 

[Iolo]

this fool who keeps playing games with military folks, he has no repect for their positions.
the guy keeps poking and poking for no good reasons

There are so few people who want to work in the Trump administration that he just has to shuffle people from one position to another.

 

[Gutek]

So Trump asked to literally pillage another country, but GOP thinks everything is fine.

 

[fluffydelusions]

Isn't trump a draft dodger? I bet they loved getting a lecture by this guy

 

[Ekai]

"Drumpf vented to his national security team that the veterans told him forces from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization have not been helpful"

Who are these veterans and how old and xenophobic are they?

 

[monchi-kun]

He shat on a three star general.

I imagine what he thinks of grunts isn't flattering either.

Trump doesn't like experts because his limited world view can be challenged. I see this moron patronizing the grunts probably because he believes that he is clearly superior to them.

 

[Mahonay]

Trump doesn't like experts because his limited world view can be challenged. I see this moron patronizing the grunts probably because he believes that he is clearly superior to them.

"I love the uneducated"

Actual Donald Trump quote.