That's why.

Somehow this seems like it might backfire...

Art of the deal: give everything away and betray everyone to your adversary because you believe he'll do something small to cover your stupidity (he won't actually do that small thing, but you keep trying to kick that football, Charlie Brown).

It's the agreeable smirk of the interviewer going along with it that gets me. It should have been...

He puts ketchup on all the turkeys in the White House office.

Yeah my BSometer kind of muted until one day common sense suddenly told me "that could never happen" and now I see them all the time. FB is rife with them.

"Your kids won't get any food for two months, but hey maybe get that government cheese in the third month. Heh? Heh?"

Not entirely surprising from a former director general of DND. They are highly lockstep with the US in the upper reaches of both the uniformed and civilian side of the dept.
Always reminds me that they pay little attention beyond their narrow purview.