Retired U.S. General: Something "Amiss in trump'sPersonality"

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Retired U.S. General Hertling: Trump “Enamored” With Military Power, Something “Amiss in His Personality”

TRH World Desk

New Delhi, April 7, 2026— A retired senior United States Army general has issued a stark warning about President Donald Trump’s approach to military force, telling MSNBC that the president appears to believe he can deploy American military power without regard to international law, the Geneva Convention, or basic morality — and that his recent public statements reveal something deeply troubling about his fitness for the presidency.

Lt. General Mark Hertling (Ret.), speaking to MSNBC, said Trump’s weekend statements and a subsequent press conference had raised serious alarm bells that went beyond policy disagreement.

“Based on the rantings over the weekend, based on the press conference today, based on the things he’s saying which are obviously against the law — I think two things are happening,” Hertling said.

“First of all, the president is becoming increasingly enamoured with the power of American military. And secondly, he believes that he can use it in any way he wants without regard to international law, the laws of land warfare, the Geneva Convention, or straight out morality — being a moral person with values,” he added.

Hertling did not stop at policy critique. “The way he is stating them are true indicators that something is amiss in his personality or his approach to the presidency — the greatest power in the world,” he said, adding that Trump’s posture was “increasingly concerning.”

The remarks carry weight precisely because of their source. Hertling is a former Commanding General of U.S. Army Europe and the Seventh Army, with decades of operational experience across multiple theatres of conflict. His critique is not that of a political opponent but of a career military officer whose professional life was defined by the rules of engagement and the laws of armed conflict he now says the president is dismissing.

The Geneva Conventions — the bedrock of international humanitarian law — govern the treatment of prisoners of war, civilians, and the wounded in armed conflict. Any suggestion by a sitting U.S. president that American military force could be deployed in disregard of those conventions would mark a fundamental rupture with post-World War II international legal norms that the United States itself helped construct.

Hertling’s comments arrive against a backdrop of escalating tensions across multiple theatres — including U.S.-adjacent military action in the Middle East, where strikes on civilian infrastructure in Iran have drawn condemnation from members of Congress, including Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari, who has introduced Articles of Impeachment against Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.

The convergence of senior military voices expressing alarm, congressional action, and public statements that legal scholars say push against the boundaries of the laws of armed conflict is drawing comparisons to moments of acute civil-military tension in American history.

The United States military operates under a strict legal framework — including the Uniform Code of Military Justice, domestic War Powers constraints, and international treaty obligations. For a president to signal publicly that he views those frameworks as optional rather than binding would, if acted upon, place individual service members in legally and morally untenable positions — obligated by oath to follow lawful orders, but equally obligated to refuse unlawful ones.

Hertling’s warning suggests he believes that gap is narrowing dangerously.

(Note: Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling (Ret.) spoke to MSNBC. His full remarks were delivered in a live broadcast interview.)