Columnist tears into Trump's 'absurd' new claim that he's no friend to war profiteers

President Donald Trump’s latest attempt to calm the fury over his alleged comments that U.S. troops who died in war are “losers” and “suckers,” on Monday, was to claim that generals and military contractors don’t like him because he is opposed to war.

On Tuesday, writing for New York Magazine's "Intelligencer," Jonathan Chait deflated Trump's new excuse as "absurd."

"One of the favorite gambits of Trump’s defenders is to insist that national security professionals only oppose him because he stands athwart the American empire. And it is certainly true that military leaders disagree with some of Trump’s policies: his opposition to NATO, his betrayal of the Kurds, admiration of Russia, and (in some cases) desire to accelerate troops from Afghanistan," wrote Chait. "It is also true that American military brass cycle in and out of the top defense contractors in a way that corruptly incentivizes them to support higher spending. But the notion that this is the reason, or even a reason, for their opposition to Trump is completely ludicrous."

"Trump is not a threat to the Pentagon budget," wrote Chait. "He has lavished as much money on defense as he can get from Congress, and boasts constantly that he 'rebuilt' it after Barack Obama supposedly exhausted its entire supply of ammunition." Moreover, he and his administration have also aggressively pursued controversial arms deals with Saudi Arabia as they commit war crimes in Yemen, all the while bragging that the deals create profit and jobs for America.

"Trump probably assumed that having bought off the military brass with lavish spending, he could count on them to stay discreet about his occasional sociopathic remark," concluded Chait. "But nobody else needs to cooperate with the preposterous ruse that Trump poses a threat to the income stream of American military leaders."

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