Ex-aide claims Trump talked of executing staff, hints at 'rage and retribution' if re-elected

Former President Donald Trump made comments about executing people, an aide revealed

Ex-President Donald Trump chatted about putting people to death during his stint at the White House, claims a former staffer.

Alyssa Farah Griffin, Trump's ex-strategic communications director, blew the lid off by saying he talked about executing leakers and warned that his potential second term could unleash "rage and retribution" against rivals if he defeats Joe Biden this November.

In a tell-all with Mediaite's Aidan McLaughlin on their Press Club podcast, Griffin recounted a tale she dished to CNN's Kaitlan Collins about a chilling Oval Office meeting where Trump supposedly "straight up said a staffer who leaked a story should be executed."

Griffin didn't hold back, adding, "And Bill Barr kind of danced it and said, 'I don't recall that specific instance,' but there were others where we talked about executing people. How do you rationalize that is a person fit in sound judgment to be president of the United States?"

Bill Barr, Trump's one-time Attorney General, chimed in with memories of fury over a leak regarding a bunker trip during protests ignited by George Floyd's killing in May 2022, telling CNN, "I remember [Trump] being very mad about that. I actually don't remember him saying 'executing,' but I wouldn't dispute it."

Barr mentioned that Trump was prone to outbursts, saying "say things like that" when he lost his temper, but expressed skepticism about the former president's follow-through. Newsweek captured Barr's sentiment: "I think people sometimes took him too literally and he would say things like similar to that, on occasions, to blow off steam, but I wouldn't take him literally every time he did it. At the end of the day, it wouldn't be carried out and you could talk sense into him."

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Trump's spokesperson Steven Cheung countered Griffin's remarks by reiterating the former president's philosophy to Newsweek on Friday. "As President Trump has said, the best revenge is the success and prosperity of all Americans," he said.

Griffin parted ways with Trump's team in early December 2020, not long after Trump's defeat to Joe Biden. During this period, Trump was vocally disputing the election results, claiming to his followers that Biden's win was the result of widespread voter fraud claim for which there is no substantiated evidence.

In the aftermath of the Jan. 6, Capitol riot — where Trump's supporters attempted to prevent Congress from certifying the election results — Griffin provided testimony to the House select committee investigating the insurrection and Trump's purported role in the events.

The former president is up against felony charges in connection with the Capitol riot. He's maintained his innocence, pleading not guilty and dismissing the accusations as a political witch hunt.

In a revealing interview earlier this month, Trump dropped bombshell comments about potentially jailing his political adversaries if he makes a comeback. "I said, 'Wouldn't it really be bad? ...Wouldn't it be terrible to throw the president's wife and the former secretary of state — think of it, the former secretary of state — but the president's wife into jail? Wouldn't that be a terrible thing?" he mused.

Trump ominously added, "But they want to do it. It's a terrible, terrible path that they're leading us to, and it's very possible that it's going to have to happen to them."