They are coping with a commander-in-chief who, according to his own former secretary of state, “is pretty undisciplined, doesn’t like to read, doesn’t read briefifing reports, doesn’t like to get into the details of a lot of things, but rather just kind of says: ‘This is what I believe.’”
这里rather just kind of 是如何修饰成分的，感觉副词好多。
but rather just kind of says...
这里面有好几个语法要点：
1. kind of 副词词组，修饰动词。意为“有点；有几分”。比如：
I kind of miss my family. 我有点思念我的家人。
2. just 是个“强调副词”，与 only 相当。修饰 kind of，意为“只不过有点”。
3. rather：是对前文所描述状况的修正。意为“更确切地说；倒不如说”。
4. but 是个表转折的连词。
