Latest news with #GeorgePatton
Telegraph
3 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
General Trump has entered the fray and this is just the beginning
Donald Trump has long had a keen fascination with swashbuckling generals from the Second World War. His rally speeches are peppered with anecdotes about General Douglas MacArthur and he used a clip from one of his favourite war movies to open his event at Manhattan's Madison Square a week before last year's election. 'Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser,' says George C Scott, playing Gen George Patton in the 1970 movie Patton. What could be more Trumpian? The president's first administration was packed with generals and retired generals. Mr Trump made no secret of his admiration for their can-do attitude and straightforward command structure until, that is, he soured on their adherence to rules and legal norms. This time around, his flood-the-zone strategy of bamboozling the media and Democratic opponents with a constant stream of executive orders, public comments, and proclamations could come from one of Patton's real-life quotes: 'As long as you attack them, they cannot find the time to attack you.' This week, Mr Trump is leaning into his role of commander-in-chief in a much more literal sense. He has deployed active service personnel as an arm of domestic policy to back his massive deportation push. As protests grew in response to immigration raids around Los Angeles, he took the highly unusual step of deploying National Guard troops at the weekend despite the opposition of the California governor. On Tuesday he used a speech honouring soldiers to defend his decision against charges it was a politically motivated stunt. 'Generations of army heroes did not shed their blood on distant shores only to watch our country be destroyed by invasion and third-world lawlessness,' he said at the army base in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. A day later, the first of 700 Marines arrived in Los Angeles. And he has left open the possibility of going even further, using the Insurrection Act, which authorises the president to deploy military forces on American soil to suppress domestic violence in certain scenarios. 'If there's an insurrection, I would certainly invoke it. We'll see,' he said from the Oval Office. And then there is Saturday's military parade. More than 100 military vehicles and thousands of soldiers are set to roll or march down Constitution Avenue in front of the White House. Black Hawk and Apache helicopters will fill the skies. It will be the $50 million fulfillment of a dream Mr Trump has had since 2017, when he was a guest of Emmanuel Macron, the French president, at a Bastille Day parade. Hundreds of troops marching down the Champs-Élysées beneath plumes of red, white and blue smoke trailing behind fighter jets, left a deep impression on Mr Trump. 'It was one of the greatest parades I've ever seen,' he later said. 'We're going to have to try and top it.' A parade during his visit to China in 2017 also got the Trump seal of approval. He called it 'magnificent'. Then, he was quietly advised then that it would not be appropriate to parade the nation's military might through the capital. But like so much of his thwarted first-term agenda, he has spent the past four years staffing up with officials who can make his dreams come true. Officially, Saturday's parade will mark the 250th birthday of the army. And it doesn't hurt that it falls on the 79th birthday of Mr Trump. Critics say he is abusing the nation's armed forces for his own ends. 'He views the military as political props,' said John Bolton, who worked as Trump's national security adviser in his first term before falling out with him. 'He thinks they make him look good.' The event could serve another purpose, illustrating how Mr Trump is bringing the nation's biggest and strongest institutions into line. And as commander-in-chief he is the one to call the shots, illustrating his hold on power. Members of Washington's diplomatic corps will be in the audience on Saturday. 'He just likes the pomp and circumstance,' said one, speaking on condition of anonymity. 'I don't see an attack on democracy. Mr Trump looks around at other leaders and thinks that this is the sort of thing that a head of state gets.' In the meantime, polls suggest a limit to what he can do as commander-in-chief. A new YouGov survey found that 47 per cent of Americans disapprove of deploying the Marines to Los Angeles, with only 34 per cent approving, despite other polls showing that voters approve of the broader deportation operation. And while legal scholars will debate whether Mr Trump's decision to deploy troops stands up to scrutiny, and whether it breaches a federal law, the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which prevents the use of American forces to enforce domestic laws, the president sees things in black and white. He knows where the battle lines are drawn as he made clear in his Fort Bragg speech. He used highly partisan language to slam the Los Angeles protesters and to champion the armed forces. 'They're heroes. They're fighting for us,' he said. 'They're stopping an invasion, just like you'd stop an invasion.' His armed forces are all part of Mr Trump's us-against-them view of the world.
Wall Street Journal
4 days ago
- General
- Wall Street Journal
How Great Was Gen. Patton?
Gen. George Patton is considered to have been a fine soldier and leader (Letters, June 6). My father, who received a Purple Heart and a Silver Star in World War II and fought under Patton in the Battle of the Bulge, thought otherwise. 'They called him Old Blood and Guts,' my father said. 'It was our blood and his guts.' Scott Kaufmann
Fox News
28-05-2025
- General
- Fox News
Harvard faces war of attrition against Trump administration on multiple fronts
Eighty-one years ago, on May 31, 1944, General George Patton walked before the 6th Armored Division before the D-Day invasion and told the troops a simple, inescapable fact about war: "No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country." It is a cautionary speech that might well be given in Harvard Square this week as the fight between the university and the Trump administration escalates. By the end of this war (regardless of the outcome), the Trump administration is likely to win even if it loses in the courts. The Trump administration has committed to total war with Harvard on multiple fronts. It is threatening the school's tax-exempt status, denying the ability to admit foreign students, freezing grants, and launching a myriad of investigations. Harvard has responded with its largest deployment since the "Harvard Regiment" left for the Civil War. (It is worth noting that the famed 20th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry suffered one of the highest casualty rates of any unit in the Union Army). For the record, I have previously criticized the administration for some of these actions, including the attack on the school's tax-exempt status, the wholesale freezing of grants, and the blocking of foreign students. These measures undermine both free speech and academic freedom in higher education. Nevertheless, the Trump administration will prevail in some actions, particularly in the allocation of discretionary grants. Harvard's own recent study found that it created an unsafe environment for Jewish students. Harvard also has a documented history of racial discrimination that led to a major Supreme Court ruling a couple of years ago against the use of race in college admissions. The administration is claiming that Harvard failed to turn over information to regulators on foreign students and has not fully addressed the antisemitism on campus. Harvard has compelling arguments to make regarding due process and procedural protections. However, in the end, this is a war of attrition that Harvard will lose. President Donald Trump has already framed this fight in a way that is politically and financially lethal for Harvard. (In the interest of full disclosure, I have a son studying at Harvard Law School). This week, Trump suggested that his administration may redirect billions from Harvard to trade schools. His targeting of foreign students also shows an understanding of the soft underbelly of higher education. Foreign students are the meal ticket for universities. They generally pay full tuition, allowing universities to fund scholarships for other students. Over 27 percent of Harvard's class is composed of foreign students. Cutting off both grants and foreign enrollments is a devastating one-two punch, even for a school with Harvard's massive endowment. Even if these measures are ultimately rejected in the courts, many researchers and foreign students will view Harvard as a risky choice in the years to come. More importantly, Harvard can hardly expect much support from the public after years of open hostility toward those who espouse conflicting viewpoints. As I discuss in my book "The Indispensable Right," Harvard is not just an academic echo chamber. It is a virtual academic sensory deprivation tank. In a country with a majority of conservative and libertarian voters, fewer than 9 percent of the Harvard student body and less than 3 percent of the faculty members identify as conservative. For years, Harvard faculty have brushed away complaints over its liberal orthodoxy, including purging conservative faculty. It has created one of the most hostile schools for free speech in the nation, ranking dead last among universities in annual studies by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). Only a third of students at Harvard feel comfortable speaking on campus despite being overwhelmingly liberal at an overwhelmingly liberal institution. (The percentage is much higher for the small number of conservative students). Not long ago, I had a debate at Harvard Law School with Professor Randall Kennedy on the lack of ideological diversity at the school. I respect Kennedy and I do not view him as anti-free speech or intolerant. Yet when I noted the statistics on the vanishing number of conservative students and faculty in comparison to the nation, Kennedy responded that Harvard "is an elite university" and does not have to "look like America." The problem is that Harvard does not even look like Massachusetts, which is nearly 30 percent Republican. The question is whether America will now support Harvard. The school hopes that the public will rush to its side in this fight in the name of intellectual diversity. Trump knows that this comes down to the numbers. At the height of the Civil War, General (and future President) Ulysses S. Grant declared "I intend to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer." Grant knew that he had a greater ability to absorb casualties, whereas even in successful battles, Lee was being drained of men and material. Trump is clearly willing to fight this out if "it takes all summer" and indeed would be happy to do so if it takes his whole term.
Fox News
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Fox Nation honors military sacrifice with Memorial Day weekend content lineup, free subscription
This Memorial Day weekend, Fox Nation is featuring a star-studded lineup of programming honoring our nation's heroes. From World War II to the Korean War, viewers can dive into the depths of history and pay tribute to the American lives lost in combat. Here is just some of the content streaming now: 1. Sledgehammer: My Father the WWII HeroWorld War II hero Eugene "Sledgehammer" Sledge is known for his memoir that inspired the series "The Pacific." Now his son is carrying on his father's legacy of patriotism and American veterans with this series, giving a new perspective on Sledge's achievements through previously unreleased writings. 2. General Patton and the Prayer That Changed HistoryGeorge Patton is one of the most famous war generals in American history — and now Fox Nation subscribers can relive one of the most famous parts of his legacy. This show highlights how his faith and prayers for the protection of his fellow troops guided his leadership and powered the U.S. through the Battle of the Bulge, one of the most important battles of World War II. 3. Final Journey of the Forgotten Warriors This three-part series hosted by Martha MacCallum highlights Korean War veterans and their personal stories from one of the most pivotal events in the Cold War era. They share tales both inspirational and harrowing, as viewers come to understand the harsh realities of what some call the "Forgotten War." 4. The Unsung ArlingtonIn this series, viewers take a deep dive into the history of lesser-known heroes buried in Arlington Cemetery. From John Glenn to Medgar Evers, these "unsung heroes" helped shape the fabric of modern America through their service and sacrifice. 5. Field Of Valor Yogi Berra is known for his on-field heroics with the New York Yankees. Before that, he was a World War II hero who stormed the beaches of Normandy during D-Day. Fox News' Brian Kilmeade hosts this series of famous American athletes who served their country, from Berra to Elgin Baylor and more. As part of Fox Nation's Memorial Day Weekend Sale, all military members and veterans get their first year of Fox Nation free by signing up today. Fox Nation programs are viewable on-demand and from your mobile device app, but only for Fox Nation subscribers. Go to Fox Nation to start a free trial and watch the extensive library from your favorite Fox Nation personalities.
