Generally speaking, the Republican presidential candidates in the United States are considered to be closer to national security institutions - the military, intelligence, and foreign policy officials. However, Trump has become an exception during the 2024 election.

More than 100 former Republican national security officials who served under Reagan, both Bush presidents, and the Trump administration publicly expressed their support for Democratic presidential candidate Harris and stated that 'Trump is not fit to serve as the President of the United States.'

These Republican officials, who previously served in institutions such as the White House, Department of Defense, Department of the Treasury, Department of State, Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, and Congress, collectively stated that although they anticipate differences with Harris on many domestic and foreign policy issues, they believe she possesses the basic qualities required to be the President of the United States, unlike Trump.

These officials stated that during his presidency, Trump promoted 'daily chaos' - praising enemies, weakening allies, politicizing the military and demeaning veterans, and prioritizing personal interests over the interests of the United States.

They further expressed that they can understand why many Republicans prefer Trump over Harris for various reasons, including concerns about some far-left Democratic positions. However, any potential concerns pale in comparison to the 'chaotic and unethical behavior' displayed by Trump. Trump's unpredictable character is not the negotiation advantage she claims it to be. On the contrary, in matters of national security, Trump's actions would provoke equally unstable behavior from American adversaries, and the world would bear the reckless and dangerous consequences.

In general, the latest letter also reflects the continued rise of anti-Trump voices within the Republican Party. According to a rough overview, the signatories of the joint letter include former U.S. Defense Secretary William Conn's, Chuck Hagel, former CIA director Michael Hayden, William Webster, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State and World Bank President Robert Zoellick, and many others who have previously broken ties with Trump.

In the letter released on Wednesday, there were also some new names, including several former members of the House of Representatives, such as Dan Miller of Florida, Bill Parkson of New York, and others.

It is not difficult to understand that due to Trump's eccentric personality, there has always been opposition within the Republican Party. Just last week, before the debate between Trump and Harris, ten former senior U.S. military officials published a joint letter accusing Trump of being a 'national security threat'.

The latest polls show that Trump's prospects are still slightly behind Harris, but the gap is not large. According to 538 data, even with a slightly better performance in last week's debate, Harris' current support has only slightly expanded to nearly 3%. The latest survey by the New York Times also shows that Harris leads Trump by 4 percentage points with 50% support. However, the gap between the two in the 5 'battleground states' is within 1%.

Editor/Somer