The former commander of US Special Operations Command explained that if an enemy wants to destroy their other side, they do so from "within and without." He meant that Trump is trying to undermine law enforcement, the Department of Justice, the State Department as well as a series of other American institutions.
"He has called the press the enemy of the American people and I will tell you, I've fought a lot of America's enemies. The press is not the enemy of the American people," McRaven told CNN's Jake Tapper.
He went on to say that Trump left the Kurdish people on the battlefield when the American military prides themselves on never leaving a soldier behind.
"He's undermined our NATO allies and really the international committee has lost faith in America then throughout the course of this, he's convinced us he's doing it for the right reasons," McRaven said. "I think that's really what is troubling."
He went on to say that he thinks people forget that the U.S. "is a nation of values," not just transactions. But Trump is a transactional president, he said.
"He believes that it's only good if it is good for us," he continued. "But he forgets we're the same nation that fought Nazism and fascism and terrorism and not just because it was good for us, but because it was the right thing to do and the men and women in the law enforcement community, those people, those Americans, believe these values are important. I don't believe the president fully understands that."
"As I've said a number of times before, I've had the privilege and honor of working for a lot of presidents and I didn't always agree with them," he later said. "But I believed they were men of principle. They were trying to do what's right by the country. They didn't always get it right, but were trying to do what's right. I don't see that in this president."
It's rare for high-level military members to speak out against the commander-in-chief, and McRaven said he isn't speaking for any other members of the military, but he was motivated by those eager to always "do the right thing" in the name of American values.
"We believed we were a nation of laws. The First Amendment. We believed in universal rights. We believed that we were the good guys and if we're no longer the good guys, it's going to be very difficult to inspire people to join the intelligence committee, the military, any part of the federal government where those values are so critical to doing your job and to sacrificing for this country," he closed.
Read his full op-ed at The New York Times and watch his interview with Tapper below:
