Diplomats of at least two foreign countries have told their governments to prepare for a “doomsday” option following intel they’ve received about Trump’s plans if he returns to the White House, Reuters reported Monday.
At least one of those diplomats, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, represented a Northern European nation that’s a member of NATO.
"You have to explain to your capital. 'Things might go rather well: the US keeps on rehabilitating herself' (if Biden is re-elected)," the official said.
"Then you have Trump, a mild version: a repetition of his first term with some aggressive overtones. And then you have the doomsday option."
The diplomat told Reuters they have kept in touch with Trump aides after he left the presidency, and what they’re hearing has them terrified.
"The story from there was, 'We were not prepared (to govern), and next time it has to be different,'" the diplomat said. "When they got into the Oval Office in 2017, they didn't have any idea what the hell to do with it. But this won't happen again."
Reuters spoke to nearly 20 foreign current and former aides and diplomats, the report said.
Those officials said, during a second Trump presidency, they expect to see key positions in the Pentagon, State Department and CIA filled with loyalists who put Trump's interests first.
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They said he was preparing to overcome a frustration of his last term in office — that officials stood in the way of him enacting his vision.
“He often voiced frustration at top officials who slow-walked, shelved, or talked him out of some of his schemes,” Reuters reported.
"President Trump came to realize that personnel is policy," said Robert O'Brien, a national security adviser in the Trump administration.
"At the outset of his administration, there were a lot of people that were interested in implementing their own policies, not the president's policies."
