POL Worried Trump could 'go rogue,' Milley took top-secret action to protect nuclear weapons
- Thread starter Melodi
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vector7
Dot Collector
BREAKING: Several Pentagon officers present in Milley’s secret meeting are willing to testify against him under oath, per WH official
View: https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1437833953289940992?s=20
View: https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1437833953289940992?s=20
Bogey
“Where liberty dwells, there is my country.”
The DS requires the perception of having the moral high ground. Without it, the yet to be seen heavy handed full on Bolshlevik BS will not hold water.
I suspect the revelation of Milley's actions are to build on a narrative. One that will attempt to paint Trump as a psycho madman, willing to start WW3 just to remain in power. And, by extension, anyone that supports/supported Trump, anyone proclaiming to be a patriot or constitutionalist is just as dangerous.
You ain't seen nothing yet! Time is short.
RT 3:44
northern watch
TB Fanatic
Melodi,
Thank you for starting this thread.
It rises a lot of questions, Would Milley warn the Russians as well, if the United States was going to attack them?
Meadowlark
Has No Life - Lives on TB
TREASON
Melodi
Disaster Cat
It answers some questions, but I've got some new ones - this suggests the factional fighting we suspected was going on behind the scenes with the "handlers" just went red hot and one faction has decided to go scorched Earth on the other one(s).
Milley may have led a COUP, with some help from Nancy and who knows who else, but if they are just been exposed and the White House is reporting they've got people to testify already; then someone at least thinks that THEY are now in charge.
I just have no idea who that is at this point, or as Nightwolf said, "I don't like this novel, I want another author!"
pinkelsteinsmom
Veteran Member
I was a broken record for 4 years stating this exact thing.
night driver
ESFP adrift in INTJ sea
OH LORDY!!!
Thank Nightwolf for us for today's humor break.
This ALSO explains why Miller pulled "SOCOM complete" out of the normal COC.
DJT was protecting himself.
Thank Nightwolf for us for today's humor break.
This ALSO explains why Miller pulled "SOCOM complete" out of the normal COC.
DJT was protecting himself.
Trying to make Trump look crazy And give Biden some legitimacy.
Oh, I think the obvious incapacity of President Puddincup and his Veep has left the communists with no options but to try and press their coup to fruition.
I understood a war in CONUS was inevitable when DJT let go of the reins of power without using all his available options......
Bps1691
Veteran Member
This quote from the book seems to indicate he went a good bit out of any authority that he had-->
In a pair of secret phone calls, Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, assured his Chinese counterpart, Gen. Li Zuocheng of the PLA, that the U.S. would not strike, according to the new book written by Washington Post associate editor Bob Woodward and national political editor Robert Costa.
pinkelsteinsmom
Veteran Member
Won't matter, Milley could stand up and spread his ass crack to america, hearings are just that. Nothing has ever come from one of them. He needs to be arrested now and tried for treason on national tv to include the swift hanging with his red heels, nails, and pig lipstick on. I suggest a mooring rope.
I think there's some folks in Leavenworth who could help Milley understand not just white rage, as he told Congress that he wanted to understand, but plain old red-blooded American traitor-hating rage.
And all this crap of bypassing the rules just because these arrogant spoiled pricks think they know better is how we got here.
Let him choose, firing squad or hanging, I don't care which.
And all this crap of bypassing the rules just because these arrogant spoiled pricks think they know better is how we got here.
Let him choose, firing squad or hanging, I don't care which.
TheSearcher
Are you sure about that?
Being that this is coming from the Arch-Liar Bob Woodward, that's the only thing keeping me from losing my mind on this one. He may be right, but my distrust of him provides a buffer.
If this is true, that is naked treason.
TheSearcher
Are you sure about that?
Why. Not. BOTH?
nomifyle
TB Fanatic
night driver
ESFP adrift in INTJ sea
I'll stand corrected on his purview vis a vis the calls.
vector7
Dot Collector
Through this prism every current story you read in the media about foreign affairs, and specifically the Afghanistan mess, starts making sense.
If u know the keys, u can unlock the doors to the world of understanding.... And yes, this contains the prior prediction about Milley
View: https://twitter.com/TheLastRefuge2/status/1437856738385047558?s=20
If u know the keys, u can unlock the doors to the world of understanding.... And yes, this contains the prior prediction about Milley
View: https://twitter.com/TheLastRefuge2/status/1437856738385047558?s=20
That might be cruel or unusual punishment, and I'm all about the rules, don'tcha know.
TheSearcher
Are you sure about that?
Fine, fine, but don't let him pick. He'll take all day.
155 arty
Veteran Member
I was only a lowly E3 but this is treasonous in my book!Part II if you are still able to keep reading (I feel kind of sick myself)
'You really should do a tweet'
According to the authors, Trump ignored repeated requests by both staff and his daughter Ivanka Trump to call off the rioters at the Capitol on January 6.
In one episode, retired Gen. Keith Kellogg, who served as Pence's national security adviser, was in the White House with Trump while he watched the insurrection unfold on television.
Kellogg urged Trump to act.
Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, who advises Donald Trump on foreign policy and military issues, speaks to the media in the lobby at Trump Tower, November 15, 2016 in New York City.
"You really should do a tweet," Kellogg said, according to the authors. "You need to get a tweet out real quick, help control the crowd up there. This is out of control. They're not going to be able to control this. Sir, they're not prepared for it. Once a mob starts turning like that, you've lost it."
"Yeah," Trump said. The authors write, 'Trump blinked and kept watching television.'
Ivanka Trump also repeatedly tried to intervene, talking to her father three times. "Let this thing go," she told him. "Let it go," she said, according to the book.
Rage 2.0
Woodward's previous book on Trump was called "Rage," but "Peril," filled with expletive-laced shouting matches, takes the rage up a notch.
Top officials told the authors that Trump's outbursts reminded them of "Full Metal Jacket" at times and "Doctor Strangelove" at others.
In June 2020, after Black Lives Matter protests near the White House, Trump lit into then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who had just announced at a news conference that he opposed invoking the Insurrection Act in response to the protests.
"You took away my authority!" Trump screamed at Esper in the Oval Office. "You're not the president! I'm the goddamn president."
But Trump wasn't done, according to the book, turning to the rest of his team in the room. "You're all ****ed up," he yelled. "Everybody. You're all ****ed. Every one of you is ****ed up!"
In the aftermath of the election, Trump's rage was directed at Barr for daring to even mention the incoming Biden administration.
US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper (left), US President Donald Trump, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army General Mark A. Milley (right) wait for a meeting with senior military leaders in the Cabinet Room of the White House in October 2019.
"First part of the Biden administration!" Trump shouted, according to the authors. Trump was so mad, Barr thought, 'if a human being can have flames come out of his ears, this was it,' Woodward and Costa write.
The book also reveals that Trump is still angry with Republicans who blamed him for the insurrection, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
"This guy called me every single day, pretended to be my best friend, and then, he ****ed me. He's not a good guy," Trump said, according to the book.
While McCarthy has walked back his initial comments after the insurrection, Trump is quoted as dismissing McCarthy's attempts to get back into his good graces.
"Kevin came down to kiss my ass and wants my help to win the House back," Trump said, according to the authors.
The book ends with Trump allies speculating about his plans for 2024. Privately, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham is quoted as saying, "if he wants to run, then he's going to have to deal with his personality problems ... we've got a very damaged team captain."
But in a conversation with Trump directly, Graham was much more optimistic.
"You've been written off as dead because of January the 6th. The conventional wisdom is that the Republican Party, under your leadership, has collapsed," Graham told Trump, according to the book. Graham continued, telling Trump that if "you came back to take the White House, it would be the biggest comeback in American history."
In July, Trump's former campaign manager Brad Parscale, who had been demoted and then stepped aside from the campaign in September 2020, asked the question.
"Sir, are you going to run?"
"I'm thinking about it ... I'm really strongly thinking about running," Trump said, according to the book.
"He had an army. An army for Trump. He wants that back," Parscale later told others. "I don't think he sees it as a comeback. He sees it as vengeance."
end of part II
homepark
Resist
My one hope is as this gets wider exposure, the shit will hit the fan and clear all of these Potempkin Villages of idiots in DC. They believe their own propaganada. Menticide is what it is called. Woe unto us. It also helps explain the wild over-reaction of Pelsoi and other Dems over the 1/6 Capitol mostly peaceful demonstration. They thought Trump was striking back at their coup.
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155 arty
Veteran Member
I'm in!
Josie
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Yeah, this is the part of the book where I get very nervous and skip to the end to see if the characters I like are still alive and I can continue to read. Unfortunately, I can't skip to the end on this one.
Buick Electra
TB2K Girls with Guns
I remember a guy named Haig who torpedoed his career for much less hubris than this. Let’s have the transcripts of the Treasonous Two’s phone calls, shall we?
Josie
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Yep, this was Trump's biggest failure and the one that came back to bite him in the butt time after time. I will always remember a conversation that Rush Limbaugh related that he had with Donald J. Trump. Basically Limbaugh told Trump before he was elected, that he would never ever get the other side to like him or give him a fair shot. Trump was a bit incredulous with that in his reaction. I honestly believe that President Trump felt that, given time, they all would come around because they would see the good that was coming for the country. Unfortunately, some could see nothing beyond their hate.
Buick Electra
TB2K Girls with Guns
Don’t forget Barr. They knew they could break the law and get away with it. so off they went to brazenly cheat in the open.
Milley just exposes how they think. They would use nuclear weapons to get out of a domestic problem. They would betray this country to our enemies before they lose a domestic political fight. And don’t forget that he already showed that they would commit a coup if they lose elections.
Today is one of those days that the news is just too overwhelmingly evil to bear. The level of injustice and betrayals (against President Trump and against we, the citizens of this country) and the continued cheating in California is enraging and leaving such a feeling of hopelessness. There are hundreds of thousands, too many to even name, not just a few, who deserve the full wrath of God’s justice for their evil.
Milley just exposes how they think. They would use nuclear weapons to get out of a domestic problem. They would betray this country to our enemies before they lose a domestic political fight. And don’t forget that he already showed that they would commit a coup if they lose elections.
Today is one of those days that the news is just too overwhelmingly evil to bear. The level of injustice and betrayals (against President Trump and against we, the citizens of this country) and the continued cheating in California is enraging and leaving such a feeling of hopelessness. There are hundreds of thousands, too many to even name, not just a few, who deserve the full wrath of God’s justice for their evil.
Melodi
Disaster Cat
Yep and I watched that live and Haig for all he knew was still under fire, he thought the President might be dead and he knew the VP was a plane and it would take a little while to contact him.
So he made a judgment call that in the end sunk his career, but it wasn't planned or premeditated, he was just trying to keep things calm. He also had no way of knowing if the US might be under an actual attack by a foreign power or not at that point.
But Milley did this in premeditation and with a lot of planning, to me, that is very different, and telling China he would warn them if the US was going to attack is just beyond the pale.
Josie
Has No Life - Lives on TB
“General Li, I want to assure you that the American government is stable and everything is going to be okay,” Milley told him. “We are not going to attack or conduct any kinetic operations against you.”
Now why the hell would any legit general make it his duty to call a foreign country, who is our professed enemy, and tell them that we are stable over here and there are no problems???? Why??? Keep 'em guessing and unsure of things.
Now why the hell would any legit general make it his duty to call a foreign country, who is our professed enemy, and tell them that we are stable over here and there are no problems???? Why??? Keep 'em guessing and unsure of things.
Buick Electra
TB2K Girls with Guns
Okay, taking a step back and many deep breaths.... about Milley’s treason:
1) He called China but not Russia as well? Are their nukes not as threatening?
2) How does Woodward know all this? Was he in the room? Did Milley tell him? Is Milley dumb enough to tell a reporter he did this even assuming he’s a fellow leftist?
And the biggest question, 3) Why would Washington Post/Bezos reveal this (assuming its true)?
How does this help the left? Who in the left is helped by this?
The Washington Post/Woodward is not making these “revelations” in order to expose the truth. They couldn’t care less. So what's REALLY going on?
My guess is there’s an internal war, for as of yet known reasons, between the CIA and the upper echelon military. Both are dirty and are now struggling for control.
Only other reason I can think as to why is this might be being exposed to keep AZ out of the news cycle if they anticipate anything meaningful coming out.
1) He called China but not Russia as well? Are their nukes not as threatening?
2) How does Woodward know all this? Was he in the room? Did Milley tell him? Is Milley dumb enough to tell a reporter he did this even assuming he’s a fellow leftist?
And the biggest question, 3) Why would Washington Post/Bezos reveal this (assuming its true)?
How does this help the left? Who in the left is helped by this?
The Washington Post/Woodward is not making these “revelations” in order to expose the truth. They couldn’t care less. So what's REALLY going on?
My guess is there’s an internal war, for as of yet known reasons, between the CIA and the upper echelon military. Both are dirty and are now struggling for control.
Only other reason I can think as to why is this might be being exposed to keep AZ out of the news cycle if they anticipate anything meaningful coming out.
homepark
Resist
Perhaps Taiwan can cut a deal and get the desert to bloom, in Australia. WRT the WP.....I think they are a bit jaded playing to their DC crowd. Not sure they will find many supporters in flyover country agreeing with the tactic of comitting treason, just to prove how crazy Trump was thought to be.
Buick Electra
TB2K Girls with Guns
Went back and was reviewing one of Sundance's articles where he explained the teams in DC (glad I screen shotted and saved), remember.....
This is the Washington Post (Team CIA) dumping dirt on Team DoD.
The “partner nation” which intercepted the call is nearly certain to have been one of the other Five Eye members.
Blinken’s name has been on the chopping block recently, and Team 2 (IC) needs to go on attack. Hence the Milley hit.
Does this mean the news is untrue or unimportant? No, but there is a deeper game being played here.
The problem is not that Milley has been exposed for this. The problem is that the IC had no problem with his conduct until it was politically expedient to have a problem with his conduct.
This is the Washington Post (Team CIA) dumping dirt on Team DoD.
The “partner nation” which intercepted the call is nearly certain to have been one of the other Five Eye members.
Blinken’s name has been on the chopping block recently, and Team 2 (IC) needs to go on attack. Hence the Milley hit.
Does this mean the news is untrue or unimportant? No, but there is a deeper game being played here.
The problem is not that Milley has been exposed for this. The problem is that the IC had no problem with his conduct until it was politically expedient to have a problem with his conduct.
Melodi
Disaster Cat
So one of the calls was BEFORE the election..?
The Washington Post
Top general was so fearful Trump might spark war that he made secret calls to his Chinese counterpart, new book says
Isaac Stanley-Becker 4 hrs ago
U.S. top general secretly called China over fears Trump could spark war…
Abortion providers warn Supreme Court against upholding Mississippi law
Twice in the final months of the Trump administration, the country’s top military officer was so fearful that the president’s actions might spark a war with China that he moved urgently to avert armed conflict.
Xi Jinping wearing a suit and tie: President Donald Trump shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a meeting of the Group of 20 in Osaka, Japan on June 29, 2019.
In the days surround the 2020 election and its certification, one of the top U.S. military officers feared China might misjudge U.S. intentions and go to war, according to a new book.© Susan Walsh/AP President Donald Trump shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a meeting of the Group of 20 in Osaka, Japan on June 29, 2019. In the days surround the 2020 election and its certification, one of the top U.S. military officers feared China might misjudge U.S. intentions and go to war, according to a new book.
In a pair of secret phone calls, Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, assured his Chinese counterpart, Gen. Li Zuocheng of the People’s Liberation Army, that the United States would not strike, according to a new book by Washington Post associate editor Bob Woodward and national political reporter Robert Costa.
One call took place on Oct. 30, 2020, four days before the election that unseated President Trump, and the other on Jan. 8, 2021, two days after the Capitol siege carried out by his supporters in a quest to cancel the vote.
The first call was prompted by Milley’s review of intelligence suggesting the Chinese believed the United States was preparing to attack. That belief, the authors write, was based on tensions over military exercises in the South China Sea, and deepened by Trump’s belligerent rhetoric toward China.
“General Li, I want to assure you that the American government is stable and everything is going to be okay,” Milley told him. “We are not going to attack or conduct any kinetic operations against you.”
In the book’s account, Milley went so far as to pledge he would alert his counterpart in the event of a U.S. attack, stressing the rapport they’d established through a backchannel. “General Li, you and I have known each other for now five years. If we’re going to attack, I’m going to call you ahead of time. It’s not going to be a surprise.”
Li took the chairman at his word, the authors write in the book, “,” which is set to be released next week.
In the second call, placed to address Chinese fears about the events of Jan. 6, Li wasn’t as easily assuaged, even after Milley promised him, “We are 100 percent steady. Everything’s fine. But democracy can be sloppy sometimes.”
Li remained rattled, and Milley, who did not relay the conversation to Trump, according to the book, understood why. The chairman, 62 at the time and chosen by Trump in 2018, believed the president had suffered a mental decline after the election, the authors write, a view he communicated to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in a phone call on Jan. 8. He agreed with her evaluation that Trump was unstable, according to a call transcript obtained by the authors.
Believing that China could lash out if it felt at risk from an unpredictable and vengeful American president, Milley took action. The same day, he called the admiral overseeing the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, the military unit responsible for Asia and the Pacific region, and recommended postponing the military exercises, according to the book. The admiral complied.
Milley also summoned senior officers to review the procedures for launching nuclear weapons, saying the president alone could give the order — but, crucially, that he, Milley, also had to be involved. Looking each in the eye, Milley asked the officers to affirm that they had understood, the authors write, in what he considered an “oath.”
The chairman knew that he was “pulling a Schlesinger,” the authors write, resorting to measures resembling the ones taken in August 1974 by James R. Schlesinger, the secretary of defense at the time. Schlesinger told military officials to check with him and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs before carrying out orders from President Richard M. Nixon, who was facing impeachment at the time.
Though Milley went furthest in seeking to stave off a national security crisis, his alarm was shared throughout the highest ranks of the administration, the authors reveal. CIA Director Gina Haspel, for instance, reportedly told Milley, “We are on the way to a right-wing coup.”
The book also provides new reporting on President Biden’s campaign — waged to unseat a man he told a top adviser “isn’t really an American president” — and his early struggle to govern. During a March 5 phone call to discuss Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus plan, his first major legislative undertaking, the president reportedly told Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va), “if you don’t come along, you’re really f---ing me.” The measure ultimately cleared the Senate through an elaborate sequencing of amendments designed to satisfy the centrist Democrat.
The president’s frustration with Manchin is matched only by his debt to House Majority Whip Rep. James E. Clyburn of South Carolina, whose endorsement before that state’s primary propelled Biden to the nomination and gave rise to promises about how he would govern.
When Clyburn offered his endorsement in February 2020, it came with conditions, according to the book. One was that Biden would commit to naming a Black woman to the Supreme Court, if given the opportunity. During a debate two days later, Clyburn went backstage during a break to urge Biden to reveal his intentions for the Supreme Court that night. Biden issued the pledge in his final answer, and the congressman endorsed him the next day.
“Peril,” the authors say, is based on interviews with more than 200 people, conducted on the condition they not be named as sources. Exact quotations or conclusions are drawn from the participant in the described event, a colleague with direct knowledge or relevant documents, according to an author’s note. Trump and Biden declined to be interviewed.
On Afghanistan, the book examines how Biden’s experience as vice president shaped his approach to the withdrawal. Convinced that President Barack Obama had been manipulated by his own commanders, Biden vowed privately in 2009, “The military doesn’t f--- around with me.”
“Peril” also documents how Biden’s top advisers spent the spring weighing, but ultimately rejecting, alternatives to a full withdrawal. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin returned from a NATO meeting in March envisioning ways to extend the mission, including through a “gated” withdrawal seeking diplomatic leverage. But they came to see that meaningful leverage would require a more expansive commitment, and instead came back around to a full exit.
Milley, for his part, took what the authors describe as a deferential approach to Biden on Afghanistan, in contrast to his earlier efforts to constrain Trump. The book reveals recent remarks the chairman delivered to the Joint Chiefs in which he said, “Here’s a couple of rules of the road here that we’re going to follow. One is you never, ever ever box in a president of the United States. You always give him decision space.” Referring to Biden, he said, “You’re dealing with a seasoned politician here who has been in Washington, D.C., 50 years, whatever it is.”
His decision just months earlier to place himself between Trump and potential war was triggered by several important events — a phone call, a photo op and a refusal to rule out war with another adversary, Iran.
The immediate motivation, according to the book, was the Jan. 8 call from Pelosi, who demanded to know, “What precautions are available to prevent an unstable president from initiating military hostilities or from accessing the launch codes and ordering a nuclear strike?” Milley assured her that there were “a lot of checks in the system.”
The call transcript obtained by the authors shows Pelosi telling Milley, referring to Trump, “He’s crazy. You know he’s crazy. … He’s crazy and what he did yesterday is further evidence of his craziness.” Milley replied, “I agree with you on everything.”
Milley’s resolve was deepened by the events of June 1, 2020, when he felt Trump had used him as part of a photo op in his walk across Lafayette Square during protests that began after the killing of George Floyd. The chairman came to see his role as ensuring that, “We’re not going to turn our guns on the American people and we’re not going to have a ‘Wag the Dog’ scenario overseas,” the authors quote him saying privately.
Trump’s posture, not just to China but also to Iran, tested that promise. In discussions about Iran’s nuclear program, Trump declined to rule out striking the country, at times even displaying curiosity about the prospect, according to the book. Haspel was so alarmed after a meeting in November that she called Milley to say, “This is a highly dangerous situation. We are going to lash out for his ego?”
Trump’s fragile ego drove many decisions by the nation’s leaders, from lawmakers to the vice president, according to the book. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was so worried that a call from President-elect Biden would send Trump into a fury that the then-Majority Leader used a backchannel to fend off Biden. He asked Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, formerly the No. 2 Senate Republican, to ask Sen. Christopher A. Coons, the Democrat of Delaware and close Biden ally, to tell Biden not to call him.
So intent was Pence on being Trump’s loyal second-in-command — and potential successor — that he asked confidants if there were ways he could accede to Trump’s demands and avoid certifying the results of the election on Jan. 6. In late December, the authors reveal, Pence called Dan Quayle, a former vice president and fellow Indiana Republican, for advice.
Quayle was adamant, according to the authors. “Mike, you have no flexibility on this. None. Zero. Forget it. Put it away,” he said.
But Pence pressed him, the authors write, asking if there were any grounds to pause the certification because of ongoing legal challenges. Quayle was unmoved, and Pence ultimately agreed, according to the book.
When Pence said he planned to certify the results, the president lashed out. In the Oval Office on Jan. 5, the authors write, Pence told Trump he could not thwart the process, that his role was simply to “open the envelopes.”
“I don’t want to be your friend anymore if you don’t do this,” Trump replied, according to the book, later telling his vice president, “You’ve betrayed us. I made you. You were nothing.”
Within days, Trump was out of office, his governing power reduced to nothing. But if stability had returned to Washington, Milley feared it would be short-lived, the authors write.
The general saw parallels between Jan. 6 and the 1905 Russian Revolution, which set off unrest throughout the Russian Empire and, though it failed, helped create the conditions for the October Revolution of 1917, in which the Bolsheviks executed a successful coup that set up the world’s first communist state. Vladimir Lenin, who led the revolution, called 1905 a “dress rehearsal.”
A similar logic could apply with Jan. 6, Milley thought as he wrestled with the meaning of that day, telling senior staff: “What you might have seen was a precursor to something far worse down the road.”
The Washington Post
Top general was so fearful Trump might spark war that he made secret calls to his Chinese counterpart, new book says
Isaac Stanley-Becker 4 hrs ago
U.S. top general secretly called China over fears Trump could spark war…
Abortion providers warn Supreme Court against upholding Mississippi law
Twice in the final months of the Trump administration, the country’s top military officer was so fearful that the president’s actions might spark a war with China that he moved urgently to avert armed conflict.
Xi Jinping wearing a suit and tie: President Donald Trump shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a meeting of the Group of 20 in Osaka, Japan on June 29, 2019.
In the days surround the 2020 election and its certification, one of the top U.S. military officers feared China might misjudge U.S. intentions and go to war, according to a new book.© Susan Walsh/AP President Donald Trump shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a meeting of the Group of 20 in Osaka, Japan on June 29, 2019. In the days surround the 2020 election and its certification, one of the top U.S. military officers feared China might misjudge U.S. intentions and go to war, according to a new book.
In a pair of secret phone calls, Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, assured his Chinese counterpart, Gen. Li Zuocheng of the People’s Liberation Army, that the United States would not strike, according to a new book by Washington Post associate editor Bob Woodward and national political reporter Robert Costa.
One call took place on Oct. 30, 2020, four days before the election that unseated President Trump, and the other on Jan. 8, 2021, two days after the Capitol siege carried out by his supporters in a quest to cancel the vote.
The first call was prompted by Milley’s review of intelligence suggesting the Chinese believed the United States was preparing to attack. That belief, the authors write, was based on tensions over military exercises in the South China Sea, and deepened by Trump’s belligerent rhetoric toward China.
“General Li, I want to assure you that the American government is stable and everything is going to be okay,” Milley told him. “We are not going to attack or conduct any kinetic operations against you.”
In the book’s account, Milley went so far as to pledge he would alert his counterpart in the event of a U.S. attack, stressing the rapport they’d established through a backchannel. “General Li, you and I have known each other for now five years. If we’re going to attack, I’m going to call you ahead of time. It’s not going to be a surprise.”
Li took the chairman at his word, the authors write in the book, “,” which is set to be released next week.
In the second call, placed to address Chinese fears about the events of Jan. 6, Li wasn’t as easily assuaged, even after Milley promised him, “We are 100 percent steady. Everything’s fine. But democracy can be sloppy sometimes.”
Li remained rattled, and Milley, who did not relay the conversation to Trump, according to the book, understood why. The chairman, 62 at the time and chosen by Trump in 2018, believed the president had suffered a mental decline after the election, the authors write, a view he communicated to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in a phone call on Jan. 8. He agreed with her evaluation that Trump was unstable, according to a call transcript obtained by the authors.
Believing that China could lash out if it felt at risk from an unpredictable and vengeful American president, Milley took action. The same day, he called the admiral overseeing the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, the military unit responsible for Asia and the Pacific region, and recommended postponing the military exercises, according to the book. The admiral complied.
Milley also summoned senior officers to review the procedures for launching nuclear weapons, saying the president alone could give the order — but, crucially, that he, Milley, also had to be involved. Looking each in the eye, Milley asked the officers to affirm that they had understood, the authors write, in what he considered an “oath.”
The chairman knew that he was “pulling a Schlesinger,” the authors write, resorting to measures resembling the ones taken in August 1974 by James R. Schlesinger, the secretary of defense at the time. Schlesinger told military officials to check with him and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs before carrying out orders from President Richard M. Nixon, who was facing impeachment at the time.
Though Milley went furthest in seeking to stave off a national security crisis, his alarm was shared throughout the highest ranks of the administration, the authors reveal. CIA Director Gina Haspel, for instance, reportedly told Milley, “We are on the way to a right-wing coup.”
The book also provides new reporting on President Biden’s campaign — waged to unseat a man he told a top adviser “isn’t really an American president” — and his early struggle to govern. During a March 5 phone call to discuss Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus plan, his first major legislative undertaking, the president reportedly told Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va), “if you don’t come along, you’re really f---ing me.” The measure ultimately cleared the Senate through an elaborate sequencing of amendments designed to satisfy the centrist Democrat.
The president’s frustration with Manchin is matched only by his debt to House Majority Whip Rep. James E. Clyburn of South Carolina, whose endorsement before that state’s primary propelled Biden to the nomination and gave rise to promises about how he would govern.
When Clyburn offered his endorsement in February 2020, it came with conditions, according to the book. One was that Biden would commit to naming a Black woman to the Supreme Court, if given the opportunity. During a debate two days later, Clyburn went backstage during a break to urge Biden to reveal his intentions for the Supreme Court that night. Biden issued the pledge in his final answer, and the congressman endorsed him the next day.
“Peril,” the authors say, is based on interviews with more than 200 people, conducted on the condition they not be named as sources. Exact quotations or conclusions are drawn from the participant in the described event, a colleague with direct knowledge or relevant documents, according to an author’s note. Trump and Biden declined to be interviewed.
On Afghanistan, the book examines how Biden’s experience as vice president shaped his approach to the withdrawal. Convinced that President Barack Obama had been manipulated by his own commanders, Biden vowed privately in 2009, “The military doesn’t f--- around with me.”
“Peril” also documents how Biden’s top advisers spent the spring weighing, but ultimately rejecting, alternatives to a full withdrawal. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin returned from a NATO meeting in March envisioning ways to extend the mission, including through a “gated” withdrawal seeking diplomatic leverage. But they came to see that meaningful leverage would require a more expansive commitment, and instead came back around to a full exit.
Milley, for his part, took what the authors describe as a deferential approach to Biden on Afghanistan, in contrast to his earlier efforts to constrain Trump. The book reveals recent remarks the chairman delivered to the Joint Chiefs in which he said, “Here’s a couple of rules of the road here that we’re going to follow. One is you never, ever ever box in a president of the United States. You always give him decision space.” Referring to Biden, he said, “You’re dealing with a seasoned politician here who has been in Washington, D.C., 50 years, whatever it is.”
His decision just months earlier to place himself between Trump and potential war was triggered by several important events — a phone call, a photo op and a refusal to rule out war with another adversary, Iran.
The immediate motivation, according to the book, was the Jan. 8 call from Pelosi, who demanded to know, “What precautions are available to prevent an unstable president from initiating military hostilities or from accessing the launch codes and ordering a nuclear strike?” Milley assured her that there were “a lot of checks in the system.”
The call transcript obtained by the authors shows Pelosi telling Milley, referring to Trump, “He’s crazy. You know he’s crazy. … He’s crazy and what he did yesterday is further evidence of his craziness.” Milley replied, “I agree with you on everything.”
Milley’s resolve was deepened by the events of June 1, 2020, when he felt Trump had used him as part of a photo op in his walk across Lafayette Square during protests that began after the killing of George Floyd. The chairman came to see his role as ensuring that, “We’re not going to turn our guns on the American people and we’re not going to have a ‘Wag the Dog’ scenario overseas,” the authors quote him saying privately.
Trump’s posture, not just to China but also to Iran, tested that promise. In discussions about Iran’s nuclear program, Trump declined to rule out striking the country, at times even displaying curiosity about the prospect, according to the book. Haspel was so alarmed after a meeting in November that she called Milley to say, “This is a highly dangerous situation. We are going to lash out for his ego?”
Trump’s fragile ego drove many decisions by the nation’s leaders, from lawmakers to the vice president, according to the book. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was so worried that a call from President-elect Biden would send Trump into a fury that the then-Majority Leader used a backchannel to fend off Biden. He asked Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, formerly the No. 2 Senate Republican, to ask Sen. Christopher A. Coons, the Democrat of Delaware and close Biden ally, to tell Biden not to call him.
So intent was Pence on being Trump’s loyal second-in-command — and potential successor — that he asked confidants if there were ways he could accede to Trump’s demands and avoid certifying the results of the election on Jan. 6. In late December, the authors reveal, Pence called Dan Quayle, a former vice president and fellow Indiana Republican, for advice.
Quayle was adamant, according to the authors. “Mike, you have no flexibility on this. None. Zero. Forget it. Put it away,” he said.
But Pence pressed him, the authors write, asking if there were any grounds to pause the certification because of ongoing legal challenges. Quayle was unmoved, and Pence ultimately agreed, according to the book.
When Pence said he planned to certify the results, the president lashed out. In the Oval Office on Jan. 5, the authors write, Pence told Trump he could not thwart the process, that his role was simply to “open the envelopes.”
“I don’t want to be your friend anymore if you don’t do this,” Trump replied, according to the book, later telling his vice president, “You’ve betrayed us. I made you. You were nothing.”
Within days, Trump was out of office, his governing power reduced to nothing. But if stability had returned to Washington, Milley feared it would be short-lived, the authors write.
The general saw parallels between Jan. 6 and the 1905 Russian Revolution, which set off unrest throughout the Russian Empire and, though it failed, helped create the conditions for the October Revolution of 1917, in which the Bolsheviks executed a successful coup that set up the world’s first communist state. Vladimir Lenin, who led the revolution, called 1905 a “dress rehearsal.”
A similar logic could apply with Jan. 6, Milley thought as he wrestled with the meaning of that day, telling senior staff: “What you might have seen was a precursor to something far worse down the road.”
goosebeans
Veteran Member
Unfortunately, half the country will consider this guy a hero for going above and beyond to save us from mad man Trump. I wonder if he's planning to run for office when he gets out. (military not prison)
Griz3752
Retired, practising Curmudgeon
Way, way above any paygrade I ever held but no doubt in my mind this whole situation needs thorough review and then, adjudication. A GCM might suffice but maybe a Part II would wind up before SCOTUS.
All I know for sure is it is a shit show of the 1st order.