Former TOPGUN instructor and Pentagon insider says generals should speak up if they have issues with the president
Former TOPGUN instructor Guy Snodgrass, who served as communications director for Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, is withholding judgment on reports that the commander-in-chief made disparaging comments about U.S. troops.
But the 44-year-old fighter pilot thinks that if people who have held power in the administration have something to say — particularly in an age of anonymous quotes — this is their time to truly lead. That includes his former boss.
“On a lot of these bombastic statements regarding things that have occurred behind the scenes in the Trump administration, primarily concerning whether Trump is fit or unfit for office, the reality is (General) Mattis, (Lieutenant-general) McMaster, (General) Kelly and others were witnesses to history,” the 44-year-old Navy veteran told the Daily News. “Despite the fact they are former military officers, when they accepted their roles they became politicians in politically appointed positions.”
According to Snodgrass — whose 2019 Pentagon tell-most “Holding the Line” was called “the memoir America wishes Jim Mattis had written” by the Washington Post — being non-partisan while serving in the military is respectable. But when former brass like his old boss make statements critical of the president, it’s their duty to give examples that might better inform voters before the November election.
“They’ve largely been unwilling to inform the American public of what they know to be true from behind the scenes, despite the fact that they can do so without endangering national security or revealing specifics from particular conversations,” he added.
Mattis had been largely quiet since stepping down from the Trump administration after taking issue with the president’s handling of Syria in December 2018. But in June, after the president used military muscle to confront protesters outside the White House, he penned a detailed essay urging the public to show strength in these tumultuous times.
“We must summon that unity to surmount this crisis — confident that we are better than our politics," Mattis wrote.
The missive was powerful, though lacking in specifics exclusive to the former defense secretary. With an election looming, Snodgrass sees an opportunity for men like Mattis to step up for the country one more time.
“So on one hand they want the American public to pull together in unity, but they’re also unwilling to provide the information that America requires to do so,” Snodgrass said.
From his Dallas-area home, Snodgrass said by phone that he understands why many people are reluctant to speak against this president, but also gets why the public might be reluctant to believe the anonymously sourced bombshell story published in the Atlantic last week, where Trump allegedly called fallen soldiers “losers” and “suckers” during an overseas trip to a military cemetery.
Trump denies he made negative comments about fallen troops.
“We’ve watched as this administration and this president have made it obvious they will come after you personally," he said. “They will engage their followers to come after you personally.”
The retired aviator said he personally received death threats from Trump supporters in November when it was alleged that he was the White House insider who anonymously penned “A Warning,” which portrayed the president in a very negative light. He insists he didn’t write that book.
“It’s such a highly polarized time in our nation, it’s very contentious, people can be very indiscriminate with how they respond,” Snodgrass said. "I’m not sure I’d call for these anonymous sources to step out and suddenly accept all the slings and arrows.”
When “A Very Stable Genius,” by Washington Post reporters Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig, went on sale in January, that best-selling book included a report that Trump called military brass “a bunch of dopes and babies” and said he wouldn’t go to war with them. That wasn’t Snodgrass’ experience.
“They recount some episodes, meetings that I was present in, that don’t even sound like reality," Snodgrass said. "That’s the one where he calls them dopes and babies, allegedly, and (Secretary of State) Tillerson jumps to the defense of the military... that didn’t happen. I was there.”
The book’s authors, Rucker and Leonnig, told The News they stand by that report.
“We are confident in our account of what transpired at the Pentagon, which was based on interviews with multiple first-hand sources,” the Pulitzer Prize winners said in a statement. “We stand by all of our reporting in ‘A Very Stable Genius.’”
Snodgrass doesn’t believe those reporters fabricated anything, but wonders if they trusted people in the president’s orbit who are dishonest or have an agenda of their own.
While Snodgrass’ new book, “TOPGUN’S TOP 10: Leadership Lessons from the Cockpit” was on schedule to be a literary wingman to the long-awaited “Top Gun” movie sequel, which saw its July premiere postponed until next summer on account of the pandemic, his tome is due to land in bookstores Tuesday. Snodgrass tells The News there’s no time like an election year to read a book about responsibility and command.
“I think it’s more important the lessons come out in a timely fashion than simply being tied to a blockbuster movie,” he said.
The book’s anecdotes, he says, are pertinent to running a family, a business or a government. They also make for an entertaining fix for those who are bummed about the delay of “Top Gun: Maverick.”
While measured, Snodgrass is hardly an apologist for the president, whom he says could have used advice from his book at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. A new book by Bob Woodward reveals Trump knew early on that the virus was more dangerous than he let on and withheld that information from the public.
According to Snodgrass, the president has handled the pandemic “poorly” and should have learned to “anticipate problems” and “remain calm under pressure,” just the way they train fighter pilots at TOPGUN.
