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Skip to main contentSkip to navigationClose dialogue1/12Next imagePrevious imageToggle captionSkip to navigationPrint subscriptionsNewsletters Sign inUSUS editionUK editionAustralia editionEurope editionInternational editionThe Guardian - Back to homeThe GuardianNewsOpinionSportCultureLifestyleShow moreHide expanded menuNewsView all NewsUS newsUS politicsWorld newsClimate crisisMiddle EastUkraineSoccerBusinessEnvironmentTechScienceNewslettersWellnessOpinionView all OpinionThe Guardian viewColumnistsLettersOpinion videosCartoonsSportView all SportSoccerNFLTennisMLBMLSNBAWNBANHLF1GolfCultureView all CultureFilmBooksMusicArt & designTV & radioStageClassicalGamesLifestyleView all LifestyleWellnessFashionFoodRecipesLove & sexHome & gardenHealth & fitnessFamilyTravelMoneySearch input google-search SearchSupport usPrint subscriptionsNewslettersDownload the appSearch jobsDigital ArchiveGuardian LicensingAbout UsThe Guardian appVideoPodcastsPicturesInside the GuardianGuardian WeeklyCrosswordsWordiplyCorrectionsSearch input google-search SearchSearch jobsDigital ArchiveGuardian LicensingAbout Us Left to right: Mark Esper, Alyssa Farah Griffin and Rex Tillerson. Composite: Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenLeft to right: Mark Esper, Alyssa Farah Griffin and Rex Tillerson. Composite: Getty ImagesUS elections 2024 This article is more than 3 months old‘Fascist’, ‘conman’, ‘predator’, ‘cheat’: what 11 former Trump staffers say about him nowThis article is more than 3 months oldFrom John Kelly to Mike Pence, top figures from the Trump administration have warned of his unfitness to be president

More ‘lifelong Republican’ former Trump aides denounce ex-president in letter
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Maya YangFri 25 Oct 2024 09.06 EDTLast modified on Fri 25 Oct 2024 10.57 EDTShareThey range from top generals to reality stars to lawyers, but one thing all these people have in common: they have worked closely with Donald Trump and have gone public with their warnings on what they really think of him.John KellyChief of staff, 2017-19View image in fullscreenJohn Kelly in 2017. Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty ImagesWhat he did under Trump: A retired US Marine Corps general, Kelly served first as Trump’s secretary of homeland security in 2017, then was appointed White House chief of staff, a role he held from July 2017 to January 2019. Kelly’s departure from the White House followed reports of the general’s declining relationship with Trump and alleged frequent disagreements. In 2018, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump told an associate to “stop calling John for anything”. According to the veteran journalist Bob Woodward in his 2018 book Fear, Kelly called Trump an “idiot” and the head of a “Crazytown” administration.What he says now: Kelly recently said his former boss fitted “into the general definition of fascist” who “certainly prefers the dictator approach to government”.Mark MilleyChair of joint chiefs of staff, 2019-23View image in fullscreenMark Milley in 2024. Photograph: Anna Moneymaker/Getty ImagesWhat he did under Trump: A retired US army general, Milley served as the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff under Trump and Joe Biden. Under Trump, Milley became the national focus in June 2020 when he participated in Trump’s photo op at St John’s church in Washington DC wearing military fatigues, amid ongoing demonstrations following the police murder of George Floyd. He publicly apologized for the appearance, saying: “I should not have been there.” Reports later emerged that Milley “yelled” at Trump and refused to be in charge of the federal response to the racial justice protests.What he says about Trump now: Milley has called Trump a “fascist to the core” and was doing “great and irreparable harm”.Mark EsperSecretary of defense, 2019-20View image in fullscreenMark Esper in 2020. Photograph: Mark Wilson/Getty ImagesWhat he did under Trump: The politician and marketing executive served as defense secretary under Trump from July 2019 until November 2020, when Trump fired him with a tweet. During his tenure Esper repeatedly clashed with Trump, refusing to send “missiles into Mexico to destroy the drug labs” and to to deploy troops across the country amid the 2020 racial justice protests. Esper publicly opposed Trump’s threat to levy the military against protesters using the 1807 Insurrection Act, telling journalists: “The option to use active-duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used … in the most urgent and dire of situations. We are not in one of those situations.”What he says about Trump now: Esper said Trump “has those inclinations” towards fascism: “I think it’s something we should be wary about.”James MattisSecretary of defense, 2017-19View image in fullscreenJames Mattis in 2019. Photograph: Steven Ferdman/Getty ImagesWhat he did under Trump: As Trump’s first defense secretary, Mattis clashed with Trump over the US’s treatment of allies and its approach to “malign actors and strategic competitors” across the world. He resigned in December 2018 a day after Trump announced the abrupt withdrawal of US troops from Syria. In 2020, Mattis publicly condemned Trump’s handling of the racial justice protests, saying: “Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people – does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us.”What he says about Trump now: Mattis said Trump makes a “mockery of our constitution”.John BoltonNational security adviser, 2018-19View image in fullscreenJohn Bolton in 2020. Photograph: Anna Moneymaker/Getty ImagesWhat he did under Trump: Bolton served as national security adviser from April 2018 to September 2019. Trump reportedly began excluding him from meetings about the Afghanistan war, and eventually ousted him completely after Bolton attempted to stop Trump from inviting the Taliban to Camp David for peace talks (an idea Trump eventually scrapped).What he says about Trump now: Bolton has said Trump is “unfit to be president” and “hasn’t got the brains” for a dictatorship.Rex TillersonSecretary of state, 2017-2018View image in fullscreenRex Tillerson in 2018. Photograph: Simon Maina/AFP/Getty ImagesWhat he did under Trump: A former Exxon Mobil Corp chief executive, Tillerson served as secretary of state under Trump from February 2017 to March 2018, when Trump fired him with a tweet. During his time as secretary of state, reports emerged that Tillerson once called Trump a “moron”, leading Trump to challenge him to an IQ test. The two men also publicly disagreed on US foreign policy surrounding North Korea, with Tillerson saying: “We do talk to them.” In response, Trump tweeted that Tillerson was “wasting his time” trying to negotiate with Kim Jong Un.What he says about Trump now: Tillerson has called Trump “pretty undisciplined – doesn’t like to read, doesn’t read briefing reports” and added: “His understanding of global events [and] his understanding of US history was really limited.”Omarosa Manigault NewmanWhite House aide, 2017-2018View image in fullscreenOmarosa Manigault Newman in 2017. Photograph: Drew Angerer/Getty ImagesWhat she did under Trump: A former participant on The Apprentice, the TV show Trump hosted, Newman was hired as top aide for Trump in January 2017 until she was fired a year later by John Kelly. She later released secretly recorded White House conversations, including one in which Trump expressed his surprise at her being fired.What she says about Trump now: “I fell for a conman – a conman who turned out to be the biggest fraud.”Mike PenceVice-president, 2017-2021View image in fullscreenMike Pence in 2023. Photograph: Anna Moneymaker/Getty ImagesWhat he did under Trump: Pence served as Trump’s vice-president and was his closest confidant for years. Following the January 6 Capitol Hill riots in 2021, a crowd of Trump supporters chanted “Hang Mike Pence” after Trump egged them on because he was angry Pence had refused to overturn the election results in Trump’s favor by refusing to certify the vote (a power the vice-president does not even have).What he says about Trump now: “Anyone who puts themselves over the constitution should never be president of the United States, and anyone who asks someone else to put them over the constitution should never be president again.”Michael CohenTrump’s former lawyer and fixerView image in fullscreenMichael Cohen in 2023. Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesWhat he did under Trump: Once Trump’s attorney and fixer, Cohen had such a tight relationship with the billionaire real estate mogul that he once described himself as Trump’s “attack dog with a law license”. Cohen later became the star witness in Trump’s criminal trial over his hush-money payments to the adult film star Stormy Daniels, in which Trump was found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records in an effort to interfere with the 2016 election.What he says about Trump now: “A cheat, a liar, a fraud, a bully, a racist, a predator and a conman.”Cassidy HutchinsonAide to Trump’s chief of staff, 2020View image in fullscreenCassidy Hutchinson in 2023. Photograph: Dominik Bindl/Getty ImagesWhat she did under Trump: A former aide to Trump’s last chief of staff, Mark Meadows, Hutchinson became the focus of national attention in 2022 when she testified to the January 6 House investigative committee that Trump knowingly directed armed supporters to storm the Capitol.What she says about Trump now: “As an American, I was disgusted” she said of Trump’s role in the mob’s attempt to overturn the election. “It was unpatriotic. It was un-American. We were watching the Capitol building get defaced over a lie.”Alyssa Farah GriffinWhite House communications director, April-December 2020View image in fullscreenAlyssa Farah Griffin in 2024. Photograph: Sylvain Gaboury/Patrick McMullan/Getty ImagesWhat she did under Trump: Griffin, the former communications director for Trump, joined the White House in April 2020 and served until her resignation in December of that year. Describing her resignation to Politico in 2021, Griffin said: “I made the decision to step down in December because I saw where this was heading, and I wasn’t comfortable being a part of sharing this message to the public that the election results might go a different way.”What she says about Trump now: She has called his messaging to women “creepy” and “infantilizing”, and predicted Trump is “going to try to steal the election” again.Explore more on these topicsUS elections 2024Donald TrumpTrump administrationUS politicsMike PenceRepublicansJohn BoltonfeaturesShareReuse this contentMost viewedMost viewedNewsOpinionSportCultureLifestyleOriginal reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morningSign up for our emailAbout usHelpComplaints & correctionsSecureDropWork for us Privacy policyCookie policyTerms & conditionsContact usAll topicsAll writersDigital newspaper archiveTax strategyFacebookYouTubeInstagramLinkedInNewslettersAdvertise with usGuardian LabsSearch jobsBack to top© 2025 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. 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“Why DiDn’t thEY speak uP bEFoRE?” — Because people weren’t voting before, dumbass!