[Politico] NEW YORK‐David Petraeus had a rule when he was in command in Afghanistan and Iraq: "Be first with the truth."Recalling that was Petraeus’ cautious way of answering a question about whether President Donald Trump is right to say that America is winning the war against the Islamic State. Later, the retired four-star general and former CIA director told me in an interview for POLITICO’s Off Message podcast, "There are other presidents who have also made some declarations that they undoubtedly wished that they hadn’t made."
But that’s about as critical as Petraeus is willing to be of Trump, a president who could hardly be more different than the warrior-intellectual whose pronouncements on the progress of America’s wars were once treated like thunder from Mt. Olympus. Today, he doesn’t quite hold the same grip on the public esteem, but he was strikingly bullish on a president who’s been compared to a "wrecking ball" liable to start World War III‐and that’s just the criticism from Republicans.
Like a soldier walking through a minefield, Petraeus stepped gingerly through his answers. Though he repeated that he’s ruled out ever running for office, Petraeus confirmed he has spoken with the Trump administration about being secretary of state and national security adviser and says he’d still be interested about going in, "but it would have to be a specific set of circumstances or be, frankly, certain conditions." He wouldn’t say what those were, but noted they were part of the conversation he had with Trump a year ago when Rex Tillerson was offered Foggy Bottom instead.