Donald Trump wants to crush The Swamp. The leaks, the sneaks, and the secrets are all there. Our writers, David Gardner, Farrah Tomazin, and Sarah Ewall-Wice, are sifting through the ooze so you don’t have to. Don’t miss out.
In this week’s news from the ooze: Olivia Nuzzi, Dylan Thomas, Fr. Charles Trullols, Gene Simmons, Rep. Haley Stevens, Madonna, Ric Grenell, U.S. Army General Peter Chiarelli, Chris Licht, Ret. Col Michael Steele, Melania Trump, Kevin Rudd, Seb Gorka, and Santa Claus.
The ‘Certified Bad A**’ Who Is Advising Pentagon Pete
The secret adviser who is guiding Pentagon Pete Hegseth’s hardline “warrior” approach to the U.S. military is a retired colonel with a controversial past, The Swamp can reveal.
Michael Steele, who led the 3rd Brigade, 187th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, has been described by Hegseth as a “certified bad a–.” But while his men adored him, Steele, now 65, was regarded with suspicion by his superiors for his uncompromising approach.
The “Screaming Eagles” commander, who led the 1993 U.S. mission in Mogadishu immortalized in the book and movie, Black Hawk Down, is infamous in Army circles for his tough-as-nails approach and was said to have inspired the use of “kill boards” for troops to tally how many enemy soldiers they killed.
It may come as no surprise that Hegseth’s military posturing is heavily based on his fanboy admiration for his old boss. Hegseth was a platoon leader under Steele. In his 2014 book, The War on Warriors, the Pentagon chief wrote of his former boss: “He suffered no fools. If you engaged the enemy and destroyed it under his command, you got a ‘kill coin’.”
Hegseth served in the U.S. Army National Guard, deploying to Iraq in 2005 and 2006, and Afghanistan in 2012, rising to the rank of major.
The idea that Steele is now playing a key role in reshaping the U.S. forces in his image will shock many—even those within the military—because he left under a cloud after four of his men were charged with murdering unarmed Iraqis. In sworn statements, members of a combat unit under Steele’s command claimed at a military hearing in 2006 that he “ordered them to kill all military-age males.” Steele denied giving the order and was never charged, but he was formally reprimanded.
A clue to Hegseth’s loyalty to his hero was revealed in a dig he made after getting all his generals to travel to Quantico so he could lecture them about warcraft in September. He specifically called out retired U.S. Army General Peter Chiarelli, Steele’s nemesis—the senior officer who reprimanded him over the “kill order” deaths. “The new compass heading is clear—out with the Chiarellis, the McKenzies, and the Milleys. And in with the Stockdales, the Schwarzkopfs, and the Pattons,” Hegseth told the generals.
Another clue was in the fate of the alleged Venezuelan drug smugglers who were blown out of the water on September 2. When two smugglers survived the first missile that killed their nine compatriots, another strike finished them off. According to reports, Hegseth had made it clear there should be no survivors. Sound familiar?
Melania, the Grinch, and a Giant Snowflake
It’s fine for Melania Trump to hate Christmas—she was famously caught on a hot mic in 2018 whining, “Who gives a f—k about the Christmas stuff and decorations?!” But just because she’s married to the Grinch she could allow the rest of us a few days of festive cheer. Maybe a passage from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Or Clement Clarke Moore‘s The Night Before Christmas. Dare we ask for a Swamp favorite, A Child’s Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas. But what is Melania’s gift to the nation’s children? Bad Hallmark.
“This Christmas season, you, your friends, and your families should wish for the ultimate gift—love,” the first lady told children of military families during a Monday visit to Quantico. And it gets worse. “After all,” she added, “love travels further than Santa’s sleigh and America’s Ospreys.”
But perhaps Melania’s sap had a kick, after all. She continued her story about Santa’s reindeer and candy canes and love all around and finished off: “So, with his sleigh parked safely with his reindeer, Santa climbed aboard my Osprey and couldn’t stop smiling. I watched him gazing out of the window, grinning at all the wonderful American families below. Santa told me that the Osprey floated through the sky like a giant snowflake—but it is WAY faster than his sleigh could ever fly.” There may be a double entendre hidden away in there, but the thought is simply too awful to contemplate. So let’s just enjoy the thought of Trump being left for dust by a giant snowflake.
The First Lady also stopped by Children’s National Hospital to spread Christmas cheer among the young patients. Melania kept things moving by not taking off her coat and quickly opening up the book, “How Does Santa Go Down the Chimney?’ The book poses questions about the physics of Santa (a rotund man) fitting through a very small space. The first lady read through various possibilities: Does Santa cinch up his belt? Shrink himself down to the size of a mouse? Her delivery was flat until she got to the sentence, “Does Santa ever get stuck partway down and need one of the reindeers to give him a kick?” Immediately, Melania’s face broke into a big smile. She paused her reading, clearly amused by the idea of someone getting kicked– especially an immigrant from the North Pole. And since the first lady failed to mention the content creators, “How Does Santa Go Down the Chimney?” was written by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Jon Klassen. Maybe the first lady forgot that the traditional way to write a book is with humans, not AI.
Hard Rock Meets Soft Diplomacy.
Before Donald Trump awarded KISS with Kennedy Center Honors, band members Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, and Peter Criss traded platform boots for white-tie as they tucked into dinner at the Washington residence of Kevin Rudd, Australia’s Ambassador to the United States. Rudd, you might recall, is the former Aussie prime minister turned envoy who once famously described Trump as “the most destructive president in history”; a “traitor to the West”; and “a village idiot.” But there was no such talk on Friday evening, as Australia’s top diplomat hosted the legendary band at his historic “White Oaks estate” in DC’s northwest, swapping tales of the mansion’s historic pedigree and its early-era occupants, including World War 2 four star general George Patton. (Apparently the KISS lads are also history buffs).
As the Kennedy Center string quartet played with their faces painted in true KISS style, the rock legends and their manager Doc McGhee shared stories from their years on the road, along with warm memories of fellow band member Ace Frehley, who died in October after falling down the stairs in his New Jersey home studio. It was a “fantastic” night, said Stanley, who turned up sporting a dark purple suit to match the glittering evening gown of his wife, Erin. After all, Australia and KISS go way back.
The band’s first major trek Down Under was in 1980, where “KISS-teria” took over Sydney, Melbourne and every city in between — complete with screaming crowds and ice-cream-flavored merch. Years later, it seemed only fitting that the original rock soldiers would get a classy dinner with some of their high-ranking down-under fans. Rock and roll diplomacy lives on.
Take a Bow, Michigan
Senate hopeful Rep. Haley Stevens shared a random story about how her parents used to drop her off at Madonna’s parents’ house. Yes, the Material Girl’s stepmom apparently ran a daycare where Stevens was born in Rochester Hills, Michigan. The Michigan Democratic Party congresswoman dropped that detail about her connection to Madonna’s family at the end of a conversation with commentator Jennifer Rubin. But the Queen of Pop has a few years on the 42-year-old lawmaker, so no, they didn’t grow up together. In a weird twist, the Republican Senate campaign arm decided to amplify the anecdote, with a bizarre video posted on X featuring strange sound effects and an image of Christian art featuring The Madonna to go after the Democratic candidate in the battleground state.
Kennedy Center Checks are in The Mall
Some performers are complaining that they still haven’t been paid months after shows at the TRUMP Kennedy Center. Calls went unanswered and employees who previously dealt with the payments have apparently been fired. The Center is blaming a new system and insists everyone is getting their money. Center boss Ric Grenell appears to be trying a different strategy. If ticket sales keep dwindling there won’t be any artists to pay.
SPOTTED: Deep in conversation at San Vicente Bungalows in West Hollywood, the much-fired memoirist Olivia Nuzzi and the only once-fired former CNN chief Chris Licht.
The Mysteries of the First Lady
Spare a thought for the White House’s devout Catholics, who held a special mass on Monday for the feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, one of the church’s holiest days. So holy, in fact, that attendance is compulsory for all members of the church, which meant Fr. Charles Trullols‘ being in the White House to celebrate mass made life easier for White House faithful including Seb Gorka, the eccentric British-Hungarian-American Trump aide. But strangely absent was First Lady Melania Trump, who despite publicly identifying as a Catholic—and in fact only the second Catholic first lady—has never been seen at a Catholic mass during her husband’s presidencies.
The Amazing Vanishing Melania
Speaking of Melania (again), regulars at Mar-a-Lago have been struck by how often they have seen Marla Maples at Trump’s Palm Beach palace in recent weeks. In fact, they suggested the president’s second wife has been in residence way more than his current one.
Reality Check for D.C. Housing Market
It turns out that all those Trumpers moving into D.C. didn’t push the prices up, after all. The billionaires didn’t care—what’s a few million between friends? But for the plebes, 43.2% of D.C. metro homes lost value over the last 12 months, the biggest drop in a decade, according to Zillow. Look for Trump to blame the drop on Biden.
The post Pentagon Pete’s Secret ‘Kill Them All’ Aide Unmasked appeared first on The Daily Beast.
