In what is probably world record time, Lieutenant General Michael Flynn (ret.) received and then lost a major White House position in barely a month. His meteoric rise and equally as fast descent tells us a great deal about Flynn, but even more important about our president Donald Trump and how he operates.
Flynn is a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General who, at the end of his military career, was the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, which is a major post in the intelligence world. It was a three year assignment and Obama fired him after two years for not doing his job, allegedly abusing both his superiors and his staff and causing all sorts of dissension in the military intelligence ranks. What comes through is that Flynn is a very aggressive hard charger, perhaps brilliant (once referred to as the best intelligence officer of his generation), a bit of a hothead, not a great listener and, as we said in grammar school, “doesn’t work and play well with others.” He is also a major Islamophobe — not just terrorists but apparently the entire Islamic world of one-and-a-half billion people. He has had a relationship with the Russians, appeared on Russian TV, knows Putin and may have been a legitimate paid consultant for some Russians or Russian businesses. He is also a bit of a kook; in fact, he was alleged to have believed that Hillary Clinton was involved in a child sex ring run out of a Pizzeria in Washington, D.C., and his son, who was also his aide, was tweeting about it. But he is a fierce loyalist and was one of the first to jump on the Trump bandwagon and spoke at the Republican National Convention that nominated Trump and apparently enjoys being in the spotlight. He is by no means the person I would have chosen for the National Security Advisor, a job that requires someone who is respected, can handle conflict without getting upset, has good relationships with the intelligence establishment, is patient and analytical, and can digest and analyze all sorts of contradictory intelligence information, and then lay out the options to the president so he can make intelligent choices.
The incident that led to Flynn’s demise revolved around whether or not Flynn had lied about what was said to the Russian ambassador during the transition. Flynn apparently said they didn’t discuss the sanctions and the transcripts show otherwise, although apparently it is not quite crystal clear what anything meant. In any event, he told Vice President Pence who went on TV and said sanctions were not discussed, leaving Pence with egg on his face and more than a bit upset with Flynn, whom he apparently thinks lied to him. Within a very short space of time Trump fired Flynn. Initially, it was said Flynn had resigned, but it was quickly changed to Trump actually asking for Flynn’s resignation.
So, what does this tell us about Trump and the Trump presidency? Was the firing the action of a decisive president who acted quickly to eliminate a problem or was it something else, and is it going to be read as something else?
My theory is that it really is something else and that Trump may have done himself some serious harm. Trump fancies himself a loyalist and expects 100 percent loyalty from his people. Many of the people he appointed are in their new positions because they were loyal to Trump when many in the party were abandoning him. With Trump though, loyalty only flows one way — toward him, not from him. This was the first test as to how he would stand up under fire and, frankly, I believe he flunked. Washington, D.C., is a very tough town, and if you don’t have the necessaries you shouldn’t be in the game. Trump wants to drain the swamp but a lot of people and agencies have a vested interest in that swamp and Trump knows they’re not just going to roll over. They’re going to fight back and these people and agencies are good at this infighting. So, whatever happens, you back your people, even when they’re stupid or less than artful in their language, not because your people are necessarily right, but because the opposition is really coming after you, not your people. All Trump had to say was, “I asked General Flynn to call a number of countries during the transition and reassure them and not to do anything precipitously. Perhaps General Flynn could have said it more artfully, but he’s not a diplomat or a lawyer, but an ex-general and blunt, which is one of the things I like about him. So get off of my people, and if you’re looking to pick a fight, pick it with me because I’m the guy the people elected to lead this country whether you like it or not.”