Former President Donald Trump praised Adolf Hitler’s generals for their loyalty to the German dictator and said he wished American military personnel showed him the same respect, according to a new story published Tuesday by The Atlantic.

American military officers, like generals, swear an oath to the Constitution and not to the commander in chief.

Trump has reportedly made similar comments about Adolf Hitler and his generals. A book published in 2022 also reported that Trump told his then-chief of staff, John Kelly, “Why can’t you be like the German generals?” Trump’s comments while president were reported in “The Divider: Trump in the White House,” by reporters Peter Baker and Susan Glasser.

When The Atlantic recently asked Kelly about the exchange, the retired Navy general confirmed it.

‘You mean Bismarck’s generals?'” Kelly told The Atlantic and recounted the moment. He added, “I mean, I knew he didn’t know who Bismarck was, or about the Franco-Prussian War. I said, ‘Do you mean the Emperor’s generals? You certainly can’t mean that of Hitler generals?’ And he said, ‘Yes, yes, Hitler’s generals.’ I explained to him that Rommel had to commit suicide after participating in a plot against Hitler.”

“This is absolutely incorrect. President Trump has never said this,” said Trump campaign adviser Alex Pfeiffer.

The article contains a series of stories that The Atlantic uses to illustrate Trump’s views on the military and his wishes for how they perform under his command. In addition to recounting the former president’s musings on the loyalty of Nazi generals, The Atlantic also reported that Trump was outraged when he was told how much a fallen soldier’s funeral cost after he volunteered to pay for it.

The Atlantic reported that Trump told the family of Fort Hood Pfc. Vanessa Guillen, who was beaten to death with a hammer in the armory where she worked, was supposed to pay for funeral expenses but never paid.

When he received the $60,000 bill, the Atlantic reported — citing two attendees at the meeting and the notes of someone at the meeting — that Trump said, “It doesn’t cost $60,000 to bury the Mexican king!”

Trump told his then-chief of staff Mark Meadows and instructed him not to pay the funeral bill. Later in the day, Trump reportedly said, “F-king people, trying to impeach me.”

“President Donald Trump never said that. This is an outrageous lie from the Atlantic Ocean, two weeks before the election,” Pfeiffer said.