![]() ![]() Milley offers public rebuke of Republicans lawmakers “That guy had an insurrection,” Milley said. Milley spotted President Abraham Lincoln’s portrait hanging just to the right of Trump and pointed directly at it, Bender writes. Milley told him that invoking the Insurrection Act would shift responsibility for the protests from local authorities directly to the President, according to the excerpts obtained by CNN. He told the President there were more than enough reserves in the National Guard to support law enforcement responding to the protests. ![]() Ultimately, Trump never invoked the Insurrection Act but repeatedly suggested doing so during the end of his tenure – putting Milley and former Defense Secretary Mark Esper in a complicated situation each time.īoth Milley and Esper were deeply opposed to the idea when Trump first suggested it last June following protests against police brutality and racial injustice in the wake of George Floyd’s death.Īccording to Bender, Milley viewed the unrest around Floyd’s death as a political problem, not a military one. A significant concern for Milley at the time was how to advise Trump if he decided to invoke the Insurrection Act in the wake of civil unrest – a move that would have military force on the streets against civilians. Still, Milley made a concerted effort to stay in Washington as much as possible during those final months. While Milley was among those who were particularly distressed about Trump’s attacks on senior Pentagon leaders, he was said to be on good terms with the President. President, is a protest’ĬNN previously reported that concerns within the Pentagon about Trump’s potential to make unpredictable decisions during the campaign and beyond reached a boiling point last September. “Shut the f–k up, Stephen,” Milley snapped, according to the excerpts. The comment infuriated Milley, who viewed Miller as not only wrong but out of his lane, Bender writes, noting the Army general who had commanded troops in Iraq and Afghanistan spun around in his seat and pointed a finger directly at Miller. “These cities are burning,” Miller warned, according to the excerpts. Pentagon anxiety rises as officers wait for Trump's next unpredictable moveĪt times, Milley also clashed with top White House officials who sought to encourage the then-President’s behavior.ĭuring one Oval Office debate, senior Trump adviser Stephen Miller chimed in, equating the scenes unfolding on his television to those in a third-world country and claiming major American cities had been turned into war zones. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File) Charles Dharapak/AP/FILE A spokesperson for Milley declined to comment.įILE - This Mafile photo shows the Pentagon in Washington. It also underscores the level of tension between Trump and top Pentagon officials leading up to the presidential election last November.ĬNN has reached out to Trump about the claims in Bender’s book. The new details about how Milley and a handful of other senior officials were forced to confront Trump’s increasingly volatile behavior during the final months of his presidency only add to an already detailed portrait of dysfunction inside the White House at that time. “Well, shoot them in the leg-or maybe the foot,” Trump said. When Milley and then-Attorney General William Barr would push back, Trump toned it down, but only slightly, Bender adds. ![]() “Just shoot them,” Trump said on multiple occasions inside the Oval Office, according to the excerpts. Trump also told his team that he wanted the military to go in and “beat the f–k out” of the civil rights protesters, Bender writes. “That’s how you’re supposed to handle these people,” Trump told his top law enforcement and military officials, according to Bender. Top US general hits back against 'offensive' Republican criticism and defends Pentagon diversity efforts Mark Wilson/Getty Images North America/Getty Images ![]()
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