The ‘F’ word is in play as Trump’s former generals turn on him and election nears
Is Donald Trump a fascist? The ‘F’ word is in play in the final few days of this US election campaign.
Trump’s opponent Kamala Harris was asked whether she thought Donald Trump is a fascist during a CNN townhall in Pennsylvania this week and replied “Yes. I do. Yes. I do.”
She has shifted her campaign from smilingly spreading “joy”, to concentrating on bread-and-butter issues and warnings about a Trump victory.
People “care about bringing down the cost of groceries”, she explained. “They also care about our democracy and not having a president of the United States who admires dictators and is a fascist.”
The spectre of fascism is in the news because of alarming threats from Trump himself, along with on the record responses to them by two top generals who served in the White House during Trump’s presidency.
His planned rally in Madison Square Garden this weekend is also being compared in some quarters to a notorious Nazi rally held at the same venue in 1939.
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US Marine Corps General John F Kelly served under President Trump as homeland security secretary and then as his longest chief of staff, from 2017 to 2019.
Talking to the New York Times this week, Kelly first defined fascism: “It’s a far-right, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement characterised by a dictatorial leader, centralised autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy.”
Then drawing on his extensive personal and private experience of Trump he concluded: “He’s certainly an authoritarian, admires people who are dictators – he has said that. So he certainly falls into the general definition of fascist, for sure.”
Donald Trump and his chief of staff John Kelly in 2018. Pic: Reuters
Kelly had vowed not to intervene during the election unless he felt the US Constitution – to which Americans swear allegiance – was under threat.
Trump’s increasingly violent outbursts changed his mind. This month Trump said he plans to turn the “National Guard, or … the military” on “sick people, radical left lunatics” and others he called the “enemy within”. He has also threatened to shut down major media organisations.
In her Fox News interview, the Democratic nominee Kamala Harris denounced her Republican opponent, saying: “You and I both know that he has talked about turning the American military on the American people.
“He has talked about going after people who are engaged in peaceful protest. He has talked about locking people up because they disagree with him.”
Harris denounced Trump at a rally in Georgia this week. Pic: AP
Trump has gone still further, accusing America’s highest military officer Mark Milley, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, of a “treasonous act… so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH!”.
General Milley’s offence, in Trump’s eyes, was calling his Chinese counterpart after the January 6 insurrection to assure him that the US and its international relations remained stable. “My intention was to de-escalate,” he said.
Retired US Army General Mark Milley. File pic: Reuters
‘Gates of hell will be unleashed’
Another ex-military leader, retired General Mike Flynn, who has stayed loyal to Trump and who was pardoned by him for failing to register as a foreign agent, was asked if he would preside over military tribunals in a second Trump term “not only to drain the swamp, but imprison the swamp, and on a few occasions, execute the swamp”.
“Believe me,” Flynn replied, “the gates of hell – my hell – will be unleashed.”
Milley warned the Watergate reporter Bob Woodward that Trump is “fascist to the core” and “the most dangerous person to this country”.
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Trump denies Hitler comment claims
While in office Trump routinely referred to his senior officers as “my generals” and was bewildered that their loyalty was to uphold the Constitution rather than to obey his commands without question.
Independently both the generals, Milley and Kelly, recall President Trump repeatedly expressing admiration for Hitler, “you know Hitler did some good things” and expressing contempt for American soldiers killed or wounded fighting for their country as “losers” and “suckers”.
On a visit to Arlington Cemetery, near where Kelly’s son, a fallen marine, is buried, Trump mused “what’s in it for them?”
“I thought he was asking one of these rhetorical questions,” Kelly recalls, “but I didn’t realise he was serious – he just didn’t see what the point was… selflessness is something he just didn’t understand”.
Trump cannot bear to be in the company of the disabled and has flirted with the idea of eugenics, exerting control over which humans are allowed to breed.
Trump ’employs racist slurs and tropes’
He employs racist slurs and tropes, ranging from attacking Harris as lazy, dumb and sleepy to outright attacks on Mexicans as “murderers and rapists”.
When a 20-year-old Latina army private was murdered by a fellow soldier at Fort Hood, the then president Trump met her grieving family and offered to pay funeral costs personally, The Atlantic magazine reports.
But when a bill came in he told his chief of staff “don’t pay it” adding “It doesn’t cost 60,000 bucks to bury a f*****g Mexican… f*****g people trying to rip me off!”
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Donald Trump has always wanted to play Madison Square Garden, like big showbiz and sports celebrities.
He was advised against wasting his time in previous campaigns because New York is a blue wall Democratic state. This year he is indulging himself by making a big noise in his home town – what matters most to him.
His rally will not have the jack-booted polish of the Nazis in 1939. Trump embracing and kissing the stars and stripes is more his style.
The alt-right TV presenter Tucker Carlson has been booked as the warm-up man for the big show.
Tucker Carlson referred to Trump as ‘Dad’ at a campaign rally in Georgia earlier this week. Pic: Reuters
Carlson: VP deserves a ‘spanking’
Carlson had the same job at another rally in Georgia this week and gave a taste of the sexist patriarchal, and vulgar, attack which the 20,000 MAGA fans in New York City can expect “Dad” to make against Kamala Harris.
“Dad is pissed. And when Dad gets home, you know what he says?” Carlson told the cheering crowd with Trump on the platform behind him, “‘You’ve been a bad girl. You’ve been a bad little girl, and you’re getting a vigorous spanking right now'”.
Trump would like to be a fascist dad, trampling on the rules and decencies of American democracy. Fortunately, should he be re-elected to the White House, he will likely be too ridiculous, ignorant and weak to pull it off, so long as there are still enough people like General Kelly to defend the Constitution.
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Analysis: US election on a knife edge
Harris: Trump ‘increasingly unhinged and unstable’
Now after Trump’s threats, Kamala Harris’ rhetoric has darkened.
Donald Trump is increasingly unhinged and unstable, and in a second term, people like John Kelly would not be there to be the guardrails against his propensities and his actions. Those who once tried to stop him from pursuing his worst impulses would no longer be there and no longer be there to rein him in.
“He wants a military who will be loyal to him, personally, one that will obey his orders, even when he tells them to break the law or abandon their oath to the Constitution of the United States,” she said.
Posing the question as a stark choice for US voters going to the polls for the presidential election on 5 November, she added: “We know what Donald Trump wants. He wants unchecked power.
“The question in 13 days will be: What do the American people want?”
The US secretary of state has hailed a “tremendous amount of progress” on peace talks after the US and Ukraine delegations met in Geneva – but said that negotiators would “need more time”.
Marco Rubio said the meetings in Switzerland on Sunday have been “the most productive and meaningful” of the peace process so far.
He said the US was making “some changes” to the peace plan, seemingly based on Ukrainian suggestions, “in the hopes of further narrowing the differences and getting closer to something that both Ukraine and obviously the United States are very comfortable with”.
Mr Rubio struck an optimistic tone talking to the media after discussions but was light on the details, saying there was still work to be done.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio in Geneva after peace talks with Ukraine. Pic: Reuters
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Analysis: Rubio strikes an optimistic tone – but is light on detail
“I don’t want to declare victory or finality here. There’s still some work to be done, but we are much further ahead today at this time than we were when we began this morning and where we were a week ago for certain,” Mr Rubio said.
He also stressed: “We just need more time than what we have today. I honestly believe we’ll get there.”
Sky News’ defence analyst Michael Clarke said on the initial US-Russian 28-point peace plan that it was Donald Trump against the world, with maybe only Moscow on his side.
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Is Trump’s plan a ‘capitulation document’?
Mr Rubio praised the Ukrainian attitude towards the talks and said Mr Trump was “quite pleased” after he previously said in a social media post that Ukraine’s leaders had expressed “ZERO GRATITUDE” for US efforts.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly address on Sunday that there are signs that “President Trump’s team hears us”.
In a news release on Sunday evening, the White House said the day “marked a significant step forward”.
“Ukrainian representatives stated that, based on the revisions and clarifications presented today, they believe the current draft reflects their national interests and provides credible and enforceable mechanisms to safeguard Ukraine’s security in both the near and long term,” it claimed.
Despite diplomatic progress in Geneva the finish line remains a long way off
We’ve witnessed a day of determined and decidedly frantic diplomacy in this well-heeled city.
Camera crews were perched on street corners and long convoys of black vehicles swept down Geneva’s throughfares as the Ukrainians worked hard to keep the Americans on side.
Secretary of state Marco Rubio did not want to go into details at a press “gaggle” held at the US Mission this evening, but he seemed to think they had made more progress in the last 96 hours than the previous 10 months combined.
The Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy also seemed satisfied enough, posting on Telegram that there were “signals President Trump’s team is hearing us” after a day of “numerous meetings and negotiations”.
That said, we are a long way from the finish line here – something Rubio acknowledged when he said that any proposal agreed here would have to be handed over to the Russians.
At that point, negotiations to stop the war would surely get tougher.
President Putin has shown little or no inclination to stop the conflict thus far.
This, then, is the most important reason the Ukrainians seem determined to keep the Americans on side.
European leaders have presented a counter proposal to the widely criticised US-Russian peace plan, with suggestions including a cap on Ukraine’s peacetime army and readmitting Moscow into the G8.
This will only take place if the plan is agreed to by the US, Russia and Ukraine, and the G7 signs off on the move. Russia was expelled after annexing Crimea in 2014.
The counter proposal also includes US guarantees to Ukraine that mirror NATO’s Article 5 – the idea that “an armed attack against one NATO member shall be considered an attack against them all”.
The initial peace plan was worked up by the White House and Kremlin without Ukraine’s involvement, and it acquiesces to many of Russia’s previous demands.
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It covers a range of issues – from territorial concessions to reconstruction programmes, the future Ukrainian relationship with NATO and the EU, and educational reforms in both Ukraine and Russia.
Footage geolocated by Sky News showed Russian soldiers walking through the Shakhtarskyi neighbourhood on the outskirts of Pokrovsk on Thursday.
The video sheds light on the situation in this key frontline area, as Russian forces slowly encroach on Myrnohrad, the satellite town to Pokrovsk, and one of its last remaining outposts.
Videos geolocated by Sky News show fighting intensifying in recent weeks, as Russian forces attempt to gain control of the towns and their network of road and rail intersections.
Gaining control here would give Russia a base from which to access key cities further north that form part of Ukraine’s “fortress belt”.
Russian forces are advancing from all directions, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), with only one small opening to the northwest of Myrnohrad remaining.
Estimated to be only 3km wide by military experts, this withdrawal corridor is patrolled by Russian drone units which monitor the area for moving vehicles and those who may attempt to leave on foot.
Russian forces have been advancing on Myrnohrad since late October.
Video from a Ukrainian unit in Myrnohad, posted on 29 October, shows a Russian vehicle attempting to enter the town from the northeast. The tank is attacked and soldiers attempting to enter on foot are targeted.
Video posted on 3 November shows Russian forces on the ground in the south of the town.
By 8 November, Russian strikes begin to pummel the northeast of Myrnohrad, the location of many of the town’s high-rise buildings, at that time, held by Ukrainian forces.
George Barros, Russia Team & Geospatial Intelligence Team Lead at ISW, told Sky News that Russian strategy in Pokrovsk has been to erode Ukrainian logistical capacity using drones and artillery over the course of several months.
“After denying supply lines and degrading the frontline forces by essentially cutting them off from behind and starving them out in their positions, then the Russians move forward with their infantry and frontal assaults,” Barros explained.
Capture the flag
For a brief period, it looked as though Russian forces had captured Myrnohrad.
Videos posted on 13 November appeared to show a Russian flag flying over the Myrnohrad mine.
However, video posted the following day showed a Ukrainian drone shooting it down.
Both Russian and Ukrainian forces continue to fight for control of Myrnohrad, with videos posted on the 19 and 20 November showing Russian airstrikes on Ukrainian positions in the town, and Ukrainian drone strikes targeting Russian forces on foot.
While the exact numbers of Russian and Ukrainian forces in the area remains unclear, reports indicate that three key Russian units are active in Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad, and are advancing on the towns from the north and south.
A number of Ukrainian units remain inside the towns, including the 145th Assault regiment and the 32nd, 35th, 38th and 155th Brigades. Reports indicate that more Ukrainian units have been moved into surrounding areas to hold the withdrawal corridor open.
Sky News reached out to the Ukrainian brigades still in Myrnohrad, but they declined to comment, citing military regulations.
Strategic significance
Natia Seskuria, associate international security fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), explained that the area is important for the Ukrainians to keep and the Russians to take because of its strategic position.
“Situated at a major road and rail intersection in Donetsk Oblast, Pokrovsk has functioned as a central artery for moving troops, equipment, and supplies to Ukrainian units deployed along the surrounding front.”
Russia “would gain a platform to redirect its offensive efforts toward Ukraine’s principal defensive urban centres… including Kramatorsk and Slovyansk,” Seskuria said.
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Ukrainian and Russian soldiers in Pokrovsk have fought intensely and at close quarters over the last month.
In late October US-made Black Hawk helicopters containing specialist troops directed by Ukrainian military intelligence entered Pokrovsk to try to keep the town.
But as Russian troops advance, Myrnohrad is becoming the last stronghold of Ukrainian forces in the area.
Uncertain future
At least up until 12 November, there were still civilians living in Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad, despite strikes on buildings in both cities.
Residents sit in an armoured vehicle as Ukrainian police officers evacuate them from Pokrovske on 11 November. Source: Reuters
A post made on that day by the Donetsk state regional administration estimated 1,200 people remain living in Pokrovsk and 900 in Myrnohrad.
Evacuation is only possible with the help of the military or police, and it is not clear how many have evacuated in the 11 days since.
Barros of ISW says gaining Pokrovsk would increase Russia’s leverage at the negotiating table.
“If the Russians can successfully convince enough international leaders that, okay, the Russians took Pokrovsk, they’re going to take the next thing, and they’re going take the thing, so now let’s negotiate, then that is a strategic victory for the Russians.”
Production by Michelle Inez Simon, Visual Investigations Producer.
The Data x Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.
Torrential rain, flooding and landslides has left more than 100 people dead or missing in Vietnam.
Rainfall has exceeded 74.8in (1.9 metres) in some parts of central Vietnam over the past week.
The region is a major coffee production belt and home to popular beaches, but it is also prone to storms and floods.
Fatalities have been reported in Dak Lak province and the neighbouring Khanh Hoa province.
Parts of Quy Nhon has been under several feet of water. Pic: picture-alliance/dpa/AP
Footage has been released by local police of a dramatic rescue, involving a drone which airlifted a stranded man to safety from an island in the middle of the Serepok River, Dak Lak province.
The government estimates the flooding has cost the economy around 8.98 trillion dong (£260m).
More than 235,000 houses were flooded and nearly 80,000 hectares of crops were damaged, Vietnam’s disaster agency said.
On Thursday, VietnamNet newspaper said that a suspension bridge on Da Nhim River in Lam Dong province had been swept away.
Video footage posted online showed the bridge being swallowed by the river in just a few seconds.
Naval forces have been deployed to help stranded citizens in Khanh Hoa, the Vietnam News Agency reported, adding that floodwaters had reached record highs in many areas.
Photos shared in state media reports showed residents, including children, sitting on the roofs of flooded houses in Khanh Hoa, Gia Lai and Dak Lak provinces.
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A seven-year-old girl was rescued late on Wednesday in Da Lat, the capital of Lam Dong province, after being buried by a landslide, the Nhan Dan newspaper reported.
The landslide, triggered by heavy rain, knocked down and buried part of the house where the girl was staying.
She was pulled out after an hour and a half and was taken to hospital with a broken leg, according to the report.
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