Trump was used to being a dictator in the workplace

Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade responded to claims that former President Donald Trump said “I need the kind of generals Hitler had” while in office, saying he could imagine how he would Republican presidential candidate expressed his frustration over the former's military officers in his administration.

The Fox News personality also excused Trump's irritation by saying that before he took office, he was used to being a virtual dictator in his corporate empire, ordering his compliant family and corporate yes-men around with little or no resistance.

Two sources told The Atlantic In a bombshell report released Tuesday, Trump said: “I need the kind of generals that Hitler had. People who were completely loyal to him and followed orders.”

John Kelly, the retired US Marine Corps general who served as Trump's White House chief of staff from 2017 to 2019, confirmed to the magazine that he questioned Trump when he asked: “Why can't you be like the German generals?”

“'You can't mean Hitler's generals?'” Kelly recalled replying to his boss. “And he said, 'Yes, yes, Hitler's generals.' I explained to him that Rommel had to commit suicide after he took part in a conspiracy against Hitler.”

The Trump campaign called the allegations “absolutely false,” adding, “President Trump never said that.”

To Fox & friendsOn Tuesday's show, Kilmeade defended Trump's alleged anger toward his top officials.

“Play through this: If your general, who is your chief of staff and your secretary of defense? [Jim Mattis, another retired general]He doesn't do what you say every day. I could imagine him saying, 'I would love generals to listen, that would be great,'” Kilmeade said.

“He also comes from a world where his company is huge, but it is a family business,” he added. “If he asked Eric or someone to do something, they did it. It's not even listed, he has no board members and all of a sudden he says, 'Do it.' What do you mean you can't do it?'… After a while there were probably times [where he said] “Wouldn’t it be great if the generals actually listened?”

Kilmeade said he “can absolutely see that happening.” He accused the leakers of Trump's alleged remarks of knowing them “in context” but said they wanted to “stop him” because they feared he might win the election .