Former U.S. defence secretary Mark Esper has called him a “threat to democracy.” Former national security adviser John Bolton has declared him “unfit to be president.” And former vice president Mike Pence has declined to endorse him, citing “profound differences.”
As Donald Trump seeks the presidency for a third time, he is being vigorously opposed by a vocal contingent of former officials who are stridently warning against his return to power and offering dire predictions for the country and the rule of law if his campaign succeeds.
It’s a striking chorus of detractors, one without precedent in the modern era, coming from those who witnessed first-hand his conduct in office and the turmoil that followed.
Sarah Matthews, a former Trump aide who testified before the House Jan. 6 committee and is among those warning about the threat he poses, said it’s “mind-boggling” how many members of his senior staff have denounced him.
“These are folks who saw him up close and personal and saw his leadership style,” Matthews said.
“The American people should listen to what these folks are saying because it should be alarming that the people that Trump hired to work for him a first term are saying that he’s unfit to serve for a second term.”
Yet the critics remain a distinct minority. Republican lawmakers and officials across the party have endorsed Trump’s bid — some begrudgingly, others with fervor and enthusiasm. Many aides and Cabinet officials who served under Trump are onboard for another term, something Trump's campaign is quick to highlight.
“The majority of the people who served in President Trump’s cabinet and in his administration, like the majority of Americans, have overwhelmingly endorsed his candidacy to beat Crooked Joe Biden and take back the White House,” said Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung.
Still, the Biden campaign has trumpeted the criticism of former Trump officials in statements and social media posts, hoping to convince at least some Republican voters — including those who backed other candidates during the GOP primary — that they cannot support his candidacy.
“Those who worked with Donald Trump at the most senior levels of his administration believe he is too dangerous, too selfish and too extreme to ever lead our country again — we agree,” said Biden campaign spokesman Ammar Moussa.
In many ways, the schism among former Trump officials is an extension of his time in the White House. Friction was constant as Trump’s demands ran into resistance from some officials and aides who refused requests that they found misguided, unrealistic and, at times, flatly illegal. Firings were frequent. Many quit.
Staff upheaval was particularly intense in the chaotic weeks after the 2020 election as Trump worked to overturn his election loss to Biden. Trump summoned supporters to Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, as his falsehoods about a stolen election became the rallying cry for supporters who violently breached the U.S. Capitol. Many people serving in the administration quit in protest, including Matthews.
Trump’s attempt to remain in office included a bitter pressure campaign against Pence, who as vice president was tasked with presiding over the count of the Electoral College ballots on Jan. 6. Trump was adamant that Pence should prevent Biden from becoming president, something he had no power to do. Pence had to flee the Senate chamber on Jan. 6 as rioters stormed the building to chants of “Hang Mike Pence!”
Pence recently said he “cannot in good conscience” endorse Trump because of Jan. 6 and other issues, despite being proud of what they achieved together.
And Pence is not alone.
Esper, who was fired by Trump days after the 2020 election, clashed with the then-president over several issues, including Trump’s push to deploy military troops to respond to civil unrest after the killing of George Floyd by police in 2020.
In a recent interview with HBO’s “Real Time With Bill Maher,” Esper repeated a warning that Trump is “a threat to democracy” and added, “I think there’s a lot to be concerned about.”
“There’s no way I’ll vote for Trump, but every day that Trump does something crazy, the door to voting for Biden opens a little bit more, and that’s where I’m at,” Esper said.
Among Trump's most vocal critics are former aides who worked closely with him in the White House, particularly a trio who gained prominence testifying about the Jan. 6 attack and Trump’s push to overturn the election.
The group includes Matthews, former Trump White House communications director Alyssa Farah Griffin and Cassidy Hutchinson, a former top aide to Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows. They have given a series of interviews in recent months opposing their former boss.
"Fundamentally, a second Trump term could mean the end of American democracy as we know it, and I don’t say that lightly,” Griffin told ABC in December.
John Kelly, Trump’s former chief of staff, had his own long falling-out with Trump. Kelly, in a lengthy October statement to CNN, described Trump as “a person who admires autocrats and murderous dictators” and “has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution, and the rule of law.”
Olivia Troye, a former Pence adviser who left the White House in 2020, and former press secretary Stephanie Grisham, who resigned Jan. 6, are both outspoken critics who said they didn’t vote for Trump in 2020.
Even Bill Barr, Trump’s former attorney general who has not ruled out voting for him again, has referred to Trump as “a consummate narcissist” who “constantly engages in reckless conduct that puts his political followers at risk and the conservative and Republican agenda at risk.”
Still, the ranks of former Trump officials opposing his bid are greatly outnumbered by those who are supportive.
Linda McMahon, who headed the Small Business Administration under Trump, is co-chairing a major fundraiser for the former president on Saturday in Florida, along with former Trump Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.
McMahon is also chair of the board of The America First Policy Institute, which is packed with supportive former Trump officials and has been described as an “administration in waiting” for a second Trump term.
The institute is headed by Brooke Rollins, Trump’s former domestic policy chief, and counts Pence’s national security adviser and retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg among its chairs, along with former Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Trump’s U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer, and former National Economic Council director Larry Kudlow.
Former acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker has campaigned for Trump, as has former Housing Secretary Ben Carson, who called him “a friend of America.”
Trump’s also got the backing of former acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell, former Interior Secretary and Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke, and Russell Vought, who ran Trump’s Office of Management and Budget.
Vought said in a post on X that Trump is “the only person I trust to take a wrecking ball to the Deep State.”
Trump supporters are also quick to dismiss critics in the party.
Carmen McVane, who attended Trump's rally Tuesday in Green Bay, Wisconsin, said those who speak negatively against Trump or refuse to endorse are RINOs, or Republicans In Name Only, and will only help Biden and Democrats.
“There’s a lot of RINOs who don’t do what they’re supposed to do,” McVane said. “It’s time for everyone to back who we have and go full force ahead.”
___
Associated Press writer Adriana Gomez Licon in Green Bay, Wisconsin, contributed to this report.
Police say an officer who forcefully removed a 'weapon' from a protester outside of a Hindu temple in Brampton was acting 'within the lawful execution of his duties' after bystander video of the incident circulated widely online.
Scotiabank users say they are having issues using their bank’s services following a scheduled maintenance period that ended days ago.
In part two of a three-part series into how thieves are able to drive off with modern vehicles so easily, CTV W5 correspondent Jon Woodward uses a device flagged by police to easily clone a car key.
A teenage boy arrested along with more than 20 others following a gun battle in Toronto’s West Queen West neighbourhood was wanted in connection with a deadly home invasion in Etobicoke back in April, Toronto police say.
Amazon is targeting retail rivals Shein, Temu and TikTok Shop with a new deeply discounted storefront that sells a wide array of products for US$20 or less.
There are certain phrases that Wachuka Gichohi finds difficult to hear after enduring four years of living with long COVID, marked by debilitating fatigue, pain, panic attacks and other symptoms so severe she feared she would die overnight.
The satirical news publication The Onion won the bidding for Alex Jones' Infowars at a bankruptcy auction, backed by families of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims whom Jones owes more than US$1 billion in defamation judgments for calling the massacre a hoax.
A California teenager has admitted to making hundreds of swatting calls — hoax emergency calls — over a two-year period, creating 'fear and chaos' when police responded to his false reports of bomb threats and mass shootings at schools, homes and houses of worship, federal prosecutors said.
Amid a potential postal worker strike, here’s a look at how many letters and parcels the corporation delivers and how those numbers have changed in the internet age.
The inability to send and receive letter mail won’t be the main pitfall of a service disruption. The biggest concern for rural communities will be parcel delivery. Small communities often rely on online deliveries for items they cannot find locally.
Two B.C. real estate agents have been fined a combined total of more than $200,000 for professional misconduct they committed during the sale of a waterfront property on the Sunshine Coast in 2017.
People in a part of Longueuil, Que., were being asked to stay indoors with their doors and windows closed on Thursday morning after a train derailed, spilling an unknown quantity of hydrogen peroxide.
A teenage boy arrested along with more than 20 others following a gun battle in Toronto’s West Queen West neighbourhood was wanted in connection with a deadly home invasion in Etobicoke back in April, Toronto police say.
RCMP are expected to share details about a nation-wide rollout of a body-worn camera project from Ottawa, the same devices that Calgary police officers have been using for years.
Police say an officer who forcefully removed a 'weapon' from a protester outside of a Hindu temple in Brampton was acting 'within the lawful execution of his duties' after bystander video of the incident circulated widely online.
South Africa's government says it will not help an estimated 4,000 illegal miners inside a closed mine in the country's North West province who have been denied access to basic supplies as part of an official strategy against illegal mining.
Donald Trump has had few defenders in Congress as reliable as Matt Gaetz, who has thundered at one prosecutor after another for perceived bias against the president-elect and emphatically amplified the Republican's rallying cry that the criminal investigations into him are 'witch hunts.'
Armoured vehicles manufactured by the United Arab Emirates and equipped with French defense systems have been captured by the Sudanese army during the civil war in Sudan, Amnesty International says.
A California teenager has admitted to making hundreds of swatting calls — hoax emergency calls — over a two-year period, creating 'fear and chaos' when police responded to his false reports of bomb threats and mass shootings at schools, homes and houses of worship, federal prosecutors said.
NATO and the European Union are ramping up efforts to persuade China to help get North Korea to stop sending troops and other support to Russia to back its war on Ukraine.
King Charles III will mark his 76th birthday on Thursday by opening two food distribution hubs, as part of his Coronation Food Project that he launched a year ago in the hopes of bridging the gap between food poverty and food waste.
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump's promise to slap an across-the-board tariff of at least 10 per cent on all imports including from Canada is unlikely to apply to Canadian oil, energy experts are predicting.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to leave this afternoon for the APEC summit in Lima, Peru, followed by the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
In a column for CTVNews.ca, former Conservative Party political advisor and strategist Rudy Husny says that when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau goes to the G-20 summit next week, it will look more like his goodbye tour.
There are certain phrases that Wachuka Gichohi finds difficult to hear after enduring four years of living with long COVID, marked by debilitating fatigue, pain, panic attacks and other symptoms so severe she feared she would die overnight.
New Brunswick’s Department of Health says the number of confirmed measles cases in the province has grown to 37.
More than 800 million adults have diabetes worldwide – almost twice as many as previous estimates have suggested – and more than half of those aged over 30 who have the condition are not receiving treatment, according to a new study.
Zookeepers in Scotland have blamed pyrotechnics from annual Bonfire Night celebrations for the death of a baby red panda named Roxie.
It’s more than 100 feet long, at least 300 years old and visible from space. The world’s largest coral has just been discovered in the southwest Pacific Ocean, scientists announced Wednesday.
Apple announced that a new feature, 'Share Item Location,' will help users locate and recover misplaced items by sharing an AirTag location with third parties including airlines.
Taylor Swift is in Toronto to perform her first of six sold-out shows at the Rogers Centre tonight.
Taylor Swift has millions of fans worldwide, but Brampton, Ont.'s Jasmeet Sidhu has gotten closer to the musical icon than most.
A group of hotel service workers in Toronto is set to hold a rally today outside the Fairmont Royal York to demand salary increases as hotel costs in the city skyrocket during Taylor Swift’s concerts.
Amid a potential postal worker strike, here’s a look at how many letters and parcels the corporation delivers and how those numbers have changed in the internet age.
Amazon is targeting retail rivals Shein, Temu and TikTok Shop with a new deeply discounted storefront that sells a wide array of products for US$20 or less.
European Union regulators issued their first antitrust fine to Facebook parent Meta on Thursday with a penalty of nearly 800 million euros for what they call 'abusive practices' involving its Marketplace online classified ads business.
In case you can't get enough of the little pygmy hippo Moo Deng from Thailand, there's now an official song featuring the internet's favourite baby animal — released in four languages for her global fans.
My Little Pony finally made it to the winner's circle.
Four years ago, Phill Hebb started up 'Phil’s Unique Birdhouses' and since then, they’ve made their way all across Canada and into the United States.
A heavy police presence but few visiting fans are expected when France hosts Israel in Nations League soccer on Thursday, a week after violence erupted in Amsterdam in connection with an Israeli club team's visit.
On Friday, Mike Tyson will don his gloves once again for a professional bout against 27-year-old YouTuber Jake Paul at AT&T Stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys, more than 7,000 days since his last professional outing.
Mississauga city council has voted to keep its residential street sports ban in place, meaning hockey and basketball on the road will remain out of bounds.
In part two of a three-part series into how thieves are able to drive off with modern vehicles so easily, CTV W5 correspondent Jon Woodward uses a device flagged by police to easily clone a car key.
When a Tesla crashed on Lakeshore Boulevard in Toronto last month, the first people on scene knew there were occupants inside but couldn't immediately get them out.
Almost four out of five Canadian drivers switch to winter tires when the weather calls for them, according to a new survey.
Some Calgary residents caught what appeared to be a meteor streaking across the sky early on Wednesday morning.
Four years ago, Phill Hebb started up 'Phil’s Unique Birdhouses' and since then, they’ve made their way all across Canada and into the United States.
A New Brunswick fashion designer recently won the top prize at a national event for a dress she made using an unconventional material.
Dr. Ronald Weiss, who performed nearly 60,000 vasectomies on Ottawa men, establishing him as the "Wayne Gretzky" of the procedure, has died.
A congestion crisis, a traffic nightmare, or unrelenting gridlock -- whatever you call it, most agree that Toronto has a congestion problem. To alleviate some of the gridlock, the Ontario government has announced it plans to remove bike lanes from three major roadways.
For the second year in a row, the ‘Gift-a-Family’ campaign is hoping to make the holidays happier for children and families in need throughout Barrie.
Some of the most prolific photographers behind CTV Skywatch Pics of the Day use the medium for fun, therapy, and connection.
A young family from Codroy Valley, N.L., is happy to be on land and resting with their newborn daughter, Miley, after an overwhelming, yet exciting experience at sea.
As Connor Nijsse prepared to remove some old drywall during his garage renovation, he feared the worst.
The public is being invited to share messages in memory of late B.C. premier John Horgan this week.
A teenager remains in hospital in critical condition after being hit by a car over the weekend, Mounties in Richmond say.
A woman from B.C.'s Lower Mainland has been handed a $35,000 penalty after admitting she "carried on" as a mortgage broker in the preparation of 10 mortgage applications, despite lacking the necessary registration.
Two unhoused individuals who were living in tents near the Rogers Centre have been given spaces in a Toronto shelter hotel ahead of six sold-out Taylor Swift concerts that are expected to result in an influx of visitors to the downtown core.
Police say an officer who forcefully removed a 'weapon' from a protester outside of a Hindu temple in Brampton was acting 'within the lawful execution of his duties' after bystander video of the incident circulated widely online.
Taylor Swift is in Toronto to perform her first of six sold-out shows at the Rogers Centre tonight.
Drivers are being asked to avoid the scene of a serious crash near Drumheller, Alta.
Calgary police say charges have been laid in a string of robberies at local cannabis stores.
Dozens of cats and two dogs have been rescued from rural property by a Calgary-based animal charity.
Ottawa Police are set to provide information Thursday about an 18-month investigation that concluded this week.
An 18-year-old Toronto man is facing charges after allegedly making hundreds of threats towards a medical clinic operating in the Ottawa suburb of Orléans.
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump's incoming border czar is calling one of Canada's busiest border crossings in eastern Ontario an "extreme vulnerability" for the United States as he intends to crack down on illegal immigration and increase border agents across the U.S.-Canada border.
People in a part of Longueuil, Que., were being asked to stay indoors with their doors and windows closed on Thursday morning after a train derailed, spilling an unknown quantity of hydrogen peroxide.
The Caisse de dépôt is now aiming for fall 2025 for the launch of the Deux-Montagnes and Anse-à-l'Orme branches of the Réseau express métropolitain (REM), while new cost overruns are expected and voluntary interruptions will take place in the coming months.
The Quebec government will audit 17 schools to make sure they respect secularism, in the wake of citizen complaints.
A woman was seriously hurt after a shooting southwest of Drayton Valley Saturday night.
A 16-year-old's car crossed the centre line before it struck another vehicle head on, killing a passenger in the other vehicle, on Wednesday, RCMP say.
A fried chicken fast food hotspot is opening its second location in Edmonton next week.
New Brunswick’s Department of Health says the number of confirmed measles cases in the province has grown to 37.
The director of a democracy watchdog says that if Nova Scotia's electoral officer had more power to levy fines, it would discourage situations such as campaign managers giving Tim Hortons gift cards to voters.
Nova Scotia's Liberal party is promising to improve cellphone coverage and invest in major highways if the party is elected to govern on Nov. 26.
A crash on Chief Peguis Trail is causing Thursday morning traffic delays.
Chad Posthumus, a centre for the Winnipeg Sea Bears, is in critical condition after undergoing surgery for a brain aneurysm, the team announced Thursday.
A Winnipeg man is facing charges after a youth reported being sexually assaulted by a juvenile counsellor while incarcerated.
Chad Bachynski will be Regina's next mayor, after defeating incumbent Sandra Masters, who was vying for a second term.
Regina's projected new city council will consist of eight new members with more than a handful of outgoing councillors not seeking re-election and two incumbents being defeated Wednesday night.
Wednesday, Nov. 13 saw a wave of civic elections across southern Saskatchewan with victories and upsets all over. Here are the preliminary results for some of the smaller urban centres.
Amazon says its new fulfillment centre in Cambridge, Ont. is the first-of-its-kind in the country.
A Toronto teen has been charged as part of an investigation into Kitchener, Ont.’s first homicide of 2024.
Waterloo Regional Police are looking for a missing 13-year-old teen from the Chandler Drive area in Kitchener.
Cynthia Block is the 29th mayor of Saskatoon, and the first woman elected to the position in the city's history.
Saskatoon voters made their mark on Wednesday, casting ballots in the city's civic election and making history by electing the city's first female mayor. The election also brought fresh faces to the city council.
After 12 years under Greg Dionne, the City of Prince Albert has a new mayor.
South Africa's government says it will not help an estimated 4,000 illegal miners inside a closed mine in the country's North West province who have been denied access to basic supplies as part of an official strategy against illegal mining.
Sexist and abusive attacks on women, like 'your body, my choice' and 'get back to the kitchen,' have surged across social media since Trump’s reelection.
A northern Ontario couple has been charged in the death of their three-month-old baby girl who was found in September 2022 with no vital signs.
Firefighters said they ended up with some muddy clothes and water-logged rubber boots, but they’re pleased the story had a happy ending and the dog was rescued without injury.
Hydro One has identified a preferred route for a transmission corridor to supply the Volkswagen electric vehicle battery plant in St. Thomas, Ont. While the corridor now appears inevitable, officials are continuing to take feedback on the plan.
“InsuJet [is] the first device to Canada that actually has no needles,” said Daphne Lapenna of Sol-Millennium Medical Ltd. who is introducing the product to Canada on Thursday evening at Banting House.
Police arrested a 17-year-old accused of impaired driving after a single-vehicle collision in Wasaga Beach.
Police in Barrie hope to identify an individual accused of stealing a poppy box, containing roughly $50 in donations.
An Everett, Ont. woman finds herself in a bit of a dog fight with the Township of Adjala-Tosorontio after being told she has too many puppies.
A Windsor resident is asking for the public’s help to capture two injured foxes roaming in the east end of the city.
Windsor police are asking for help locating a missing 64-year-old man.
The Windsor Police Service is looking to identify a person of interest in an ongoing investigation.
A woman from B.C.'s Lower Mainland has been handed a $35,000 penalty after admitting she "carried on" as a mortgage broker in the preparation of 10 mortgage applications, despite lacking the necessary registration.
A proposed class-action lawsuit against the Canadian government says Indigenous people removed from their communities and placed in group homes beginning in the 1950s suffered physical, sexual and psychological abuse that "was commonplace, condoned and, arguably, encouraged."
A push is on to permanently memorialize B.C.'s former premier, the man known to many as 'John from Langford,' in the Vancouver Island city.
A B.C. woman who stole more than $14,000 in volunteer-raised funds that were supposed to be spent on school supplies and programs – including hot meals for vulnerable kids – won't spend any time in jail.
The emergency department at South Okanagan General Hospital in Oliver, B.C., will be closed for 31 hours this weekend, the second such closure in a week and the third since the start of November.
Police in Kamloops, B.C., are reminding parents and guardians to check their children's Halloween candy after receiving a report of a mother finding a razor blade in one of her daughter's treats.
Drivers are being asked to avoid the scene of a serious crash near Drumheller, Alta.
Lethbridge police say a number of arrests have been made following an investigation on Thursday morning.
Lethbridge police have charged two people in connection with a weekend carjacking that saw a stolen vehicle driven dangerously throughout the city.
A victim who tried to intervene as two people stole items from a Sault business Tuesday was threatened with a machete.
A northern Ontario couple has been charged in the death of their three-month-old baby girl who was found in September 2022 with no vital signs.
An experienced winter hiker and their dog were rescued over the weekend by helicopter in northeastern Ontario after being reported missing from Killarney Provincial Park, police say.
Police in Newfoundland say a man was electrocuted Saturday by a downed power wire about 10 kilometres north of St. John's, N.L.
On Thursday morning, Dave Penny officially ended a suggested hundred-day isolation period that followed his diagnosis and stem cell treatment for non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. On Thursday night, Penny returned to a stage at a downtown St. John's bar, regaling a small crowd with songs and stories with a distinctive Newfoundland flair.
A Memorial University scientist says the mysterious white blobs washing up on Newfoundland beaches are actually gobs of plastic -- and they need to be cleaned up.
The Shopping Trends team is independent of the journalists at CTV News. We may earn a commission when you use our links to shop. Read about us.
