In a 2014 interview, Donald Trump lamented that the presence of women in military academies and in the army had led to chaos.
Trump was being interviewed by Michael D'Antonio for the book, The Truth About Trump, and—in an audio recording of the interview obtained by BuzzFeed News—discussing how his life at the New York Military Academy was different from the drug-fueled counterculture of the 1960s, before pivoting to the current state of the army.
“I went to a military academy, which was from a different planet,” Trump said. “We didn't have women in the academy at that time. Today you have women, which is a whole other story, women in the army and you see what's going on. It's like bedlam.”
In the recording, D'Antonio agreed before Trump reiterated:
“It is bedlam. It's something that people aren't talking about but what's going on is bedlam, bringing women in the army.”
After D'Antonio pointed out sexual assault in the military, Trump continued:
“Raped and they can't even report it because—So, again, the whole thing is… Look, our country is so...” he said, trailing off.
Trump has expressed disapproval of a co-ed military in the past, tweeting in 2013 the number of military rapes with the question, “What did these geniuses expect when they put men & women together?”
26,000 unreported sexual assults in the military-only 238 convictions. What did these geniuses expect when they put men & women together?
Last August Trump said he would be open to allowing women in combat roles, but added in December that it was a "tricky subject."