Generals made secret agreement to babysit Trump as he gained access to nukes

Secretary of Defense James Mattis and John Kelly, who was secretary of Homeland Security and is now Trump’s chief of staff, were involved in the agreement, according to the Associated Press.

The report said the arrangement was made so one of them could “keep tabs on the orders rapidly emerging from the White House” in the early days of Trump’s presidency.

Trump has surrounded himself with a number of generals, so the revelation that they don’t trust him even after he has elevated them is troubling.

His compulsion to put military faces in so many positions of power stands in stark contrast to his own behavior. Trump avoided military service in Vietnam by claiming he had “bone spurs.” Later health reports eliminated mention of this supposedly debilitating malady.

Trump also attacked Sen. John McCain for being captured by the Vietcong, infamously insisting McCain is “not a war hero,” and adding, “I like people who weren’t captured.”

As president, Trump’s proposed budgets and health care repeal legislation both target veterans for debilitating cuts. He was even recently rebuked by the Veterans of Foreign Wars and a coalition of veterans’ groups for an attempt to cut benefits.

During the presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton warned about the prospect of Trump and his volatile personality being put in command of America’s gigantic nuclear arsenal.

“A man you can bait with a tweet,” she said, “is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons.”

That the very generals Trump trusted and elevated to positions of power in his administration believe they need to monitor his behavior seems to validate that warning.