Gen. Mark Milley stripped Trump of power to launch nuclear strike

[aubiefifty 16,777]

al.com

 

Gen. Mark Milley stripped Trump of power to launch nuclear strike as presidency ended, book states

By Dave Goldiner New York Daily News (TNS) and Tribune Media Services

5-6 minutes

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FILE - In this Sept. 1, 2021, file photo Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley speaks during a briefing with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon in Washington. Fearful of former President Donald Trump’s actions in his final weeks in office, the United States’ top military officer twice assured his Chinese counterpart that the two nations would not go to war. According to a forthcoming book by Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, Milley told a Chinese general that the United States would not strike. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)AP

Former President Donald Trump was secretly stripped of his power to order nuclear strikes or launch military actions by top military brass in his final chaotic days in the White House, according to journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa’s forthcoming book, “Peril.”

The two veteran Washington Post reporters offer dramatic new details about Trump’s frantic effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and stay in power.

Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, took the unprecedented action of ordering other top generals to consult him before implementing any significant orders by Trump following the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6.

The revelations about Milley’s actions were first reported by CNN.

“There’s no telling what he could do. You know he’s crazy. He’s been crazy for a long time,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Milley during a frantic Jan. 8 call about Trump’s mental standing.

“I agree with you on everything,” Milley responded, according to a transcript of the call.

Milley also called his Chinese counterpart Gen. Li Zuocheng twice to reassure him that there was no danger of a strike or other unpredictable military action in Trump’s final days in office.

“We are 100% steady. Everything’s fine,” Milley told Gen. Li. “But democracy can be sloppy sometimes.”

It includes new details about Trump’s effort to bully Vice President Mike Pence into blocking Congress from certifying the election of President Joe Biden in what is supposed to be a ceremonial action on Jan. 6.

The book reports that the mercurial Trump lost his temper during a last-ditch effort on the night of Jan. 5 to convince Pence to take his side, and the vice president insisted that he had a constitutional obligation to preside over Congress.

“Wouldn’t it be fun if you could do it?” Trump asked Pence, according to the book.

“No, it’s not possible,” Pence replied, as crowds of Trump supporters chanted outside in preparation for the violent attack on the Capitol the next day.

“No, no, no. You can do this,” the then-president retorted angrily. “I don’t want to be your friend anymore if you don’t do this.”

It was not immediately clear how the authors obtained the quotes of the closed doors spat between Trump and Pence.

The book also says Pence called former Vice President Dan Quayle for advice about whether he had any wiggle room to bow to Trump’s demands.

Quayle, a fellow staunch conservative from Indiana, told Pence to move on.

“Mike, you have no flexibility on this,” Quayle told Pence. “None. Zero. Forget it. Put it away.”

Things got even more chaotic in the days after the Capitol riot and Trump became more unpredictable.

Pelosi was so concerned about Trump’s mental health that she started making calls to top military brass to enlist their support for unprecedented checks on his presidential power to order military strikes, including nuclear strikes.

Trump had already ousted officials deemed insufficiently loyal like Attorney General Bill Bar and Defense Secretary Mark Esper and had installed unflinching loyalists in mid-level posts.

When Pelosi called Milley on Jan. 8, he told her he had taken precautions to prevent Trump from starting a conflict, even though there is no evidence he planned to do so. Milley did not inform Trump of the new protocol, which required generals to inform him before implementing presidential orders.

“I can guarantee you 110% that the military, use of military power, whether it’s nuclear or a strike in a foreign country of any kind, we’re not going to do anything illegal or crazy,” he said.

“What do you mean, illegal or crazy?” Pelosi asked.

“The best I can do is give you my word,” Milley said. “I’m going to prevent anything like that in the United States military.”

©2021 New York Daily News. Visit at nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

[CoffeeTiger 5,107]

The real scary thing is that a person like Trump ever had access to them to begin with. 

It makes you think...If even a seemingly sane, modern, democratic country like America could allow a mentally unstable madman like Trump to have such power, what could end up going wrong in nuclear armed nations like Russia, India, Pakistan, or even China if they had a governmental crisis, collapse. or even like America, if a portion of their population descended into madness and elected a mentally unstable and unpredictable man into power. 

[I_M4_AU 7,810]

The headline, if true, is treasonous and abrogated the chain of command.  If you believe Gen. Milley is the hero here you’re dead wrong.  Can you imagine if Trump was re-elected?  With Milley in control of the Military there could have been a real insurrection with the Military’s support, also known as a coup.

[DKW 86 7,419]

While this was as un-Constitutional as hell, it was the right call. I read far more details about this yesterday. Milley was right in what he did,

[I_M4_AU 7,810]

1 minute ago, DKW 86 said:

While this was as un-Constitutional as hell, it was the right call. I read far more details about this yesterday. Milley was right in what he did,

So, going outside the chain of command is the right call?  There are protocols in place to do what Gen Milley did on his own.  Benedict Arnold felt he was better than Gen. Washington at the beginning of our country. History has painted Arnold as a traitor.  

Please post these details that shows how heroic he was.

[DKW 86 7,419]

1 hour ago, I_M4_AU said:

So, going outside the chain of command is the right call?  There are protocols in place to do what Gen Milley did on his own.  Benedict Arnold felt he was better than Gen. Washington at the beginning of our country. History has painted Arnold as a traitor.  

Please post these details that shows how heroic he was.

He had good faith reasons to question trump's sanity or competence. It was the right call.

[jj3jordan 2,052]

There is absolutely no evidence that Trump was unhinged crazy insane or a threat to attack anyone aside from TDS. You people are nuts. Milley deserves prison.

[Leftfield 2,595]

I don't see how a rational human being can read that and their only concern be General Milley's actions. What reason would he have to take these actions other than he felt they were necessary? What personal gain has he received from it?

To be clear, the thought of a military leader usurping command terrifies me, but he did not attempt a takeover of executive power. He simply gave himself what amounts to a veto of aggressive action initiated by someone he (correctly) questioned being of sound mind, in an attempt to safeguard the country he serves. It was an unprecedented step taken in response to a sociopath who has committed unprecedented abuses of power. 

The deeper we get into this, the more we see that Trump was even worse than we thought, and yet there are still so many that defend him. I just don't know how a country can survive with a significant portion of the population living in a separate reality.

[homersapien 11,370]

5 hours ago, I_M4_AU said:

The headline, if true, is treasonous and abrogated the chain of command.  If you believe Gen. Milley is the hero here you’re dead wrong.  Can you imagine if Trump was re-elected?  With Milley in control of the Military there could have been a real insurrection with the Military’s support, also known as a coup.

Staging a coup is treasonous, even if it failed.

Thank God for Milley.

[CoffeeTiger 5,107]

1 hour ago, jj3jordan said:

There is absolutely no evidence that Trump was unhinged crazy insane or a threat to attack anyone aside from TDS. You people are nuts. Milley deserves prison.

There are multiple People who worked along side Trump everyday who disagree with you...A lot of them former Trump allies that he himself hired.  

Edited September 15, 2021 by CoffeeTiger

[jj3jordan 2,052]

35 minutes ago, CoffeeTiger said:

There are multiple People who worked along side Trump everyday who disagree with you...A lot of them former Trump allies that he himself hired.  

There are multiple People who worked along side Trump everyday who do agree with me...A lot of them Trump allies that he himself hired.   I guess we will call it a draw.

[I_M4_AU 7,810]

4 hours ago, DKW 86 said:

He had good faith reasons to question trump's sanity or competence. It was the right call.

Good faith is not a very good reason to collude with a foreign power over you own nation. Milley had 4 years to decide if he would side with Trump.  If not, the honorable thing would be to resign his position, instead he calls China on October 30th, before the election.  Why not just leak it to the press if he felt Trump was about to go to war?  I am sure he has done similar things like that before.  There is no evidence Trump was going to attack China or anybody else and if he had thoughts like that there were safeguards in place so he couldn’t go off on his own.  Especially being a lame duck after Nov 3rd.

TDS is the only reason anybody would side with Milley on this.  Whatever happens, Milley has been set up as the fall guy for Afghanistan.  Biden has already stated all his military advisors agreed with his decision to withdraw and in the manner he did withdraw.

Milley is toast, in my opinion.

[I_M4_AU 7,810]

1 hour ago, homersapien said:

Staging a coup is treasonous, even if it failed.

Thank God for Milley.

To stage a coup one has to have a real threat of force on your side, not some renegades with Buffalo horns and no weapons.  If there is evidence of a coup on January 6th why haven’t the investigation found it?  It’s another Russia, Russia, Russia.  Get serious.

[DKW 86 7,419]

31 minutes ago, I_M4_AU said:

Good faith is not a very good reason to collude with a foreign power over you own nation. Milley had 4 years to decide if he would side with Trump.  If not, the honorable thing would be to resign his position, instead he calls China on October 30th, before the election.  Why not just leak it to the press if he felt Trump was about to go to war?  I am sure he has done similar things like that before.  There is no evidence Trump was going to attack China or anybody else and if he had thoughts like that there were safeguards in place so he couldn’t go off on his own.  Especially being a lame duck after Nov 3rd.

TDS is the only reason anybody would side with Milley on this.  Whatever happens, Milley has been set up as the fall guy for Afghanistan.  Biden has already stated all his military advisors agreed with his decision to withdraw and in the manner he did withdraw.

Milley is toast, in my opinion.

DAMMIT  i was going to get to that…..

Edited September 15, 2021 by DKW 86

[I_M4_AU 7,810]

11 minutes ago, DKW 86 said:

DAMMIT  i was going to get to that…..

Sorry to scoop you.

[wdefromtx 3,159]

[AUFAN78 3,894]

Former acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller, who led the Pentagon from the period after the 2020 election through Inauguration Day, said that he "did not and would not ever authorize" Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley to have "secret" calls with his Chinese counterpart, describing the allegations as a "disgraceful and unprecedented act of insubordination," and calling on him to resign "immediately."

In a statement to Fox News, Miller said that the United States Armed Forces, from its inception, has "operated under the inviolable principle of civilian control of the military." 

"The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the highest-ranking military officer whose sole role is providing military-specific advice to the president, and by law is prohibited from exercising executive authority to command forces," Miller said. "The chain of command runs from the President to the Secretary of Defense, not through the Chairman." 

"If the reporting in Woodward’s book is accurate, it represents a disgraceful and unprecedented act of insubordination by the Nation’s top military officer," Miller said, adding that if the story of Milley’s "histrionic outbursts and unsanctioned, anti-Constitutional involvement in foreign policy prove true, he must resign immediately or be fired by the Secretary of Defense to guarantee the sanctity of the officer corps." 

"Pursuit of partisan politics and individual self-interests are a violation of an officer’s sacred duty and have no place in the United States military," Miller said, adding that "a lesser ranking officer accused of such behavior would immediately be relieved of duty pending a thorough and independent investigation." 

"As secretary of defense, I did not and would not ever authorize such conduct," Miller said. 

"Any accusations that President Trump was intent on starting a war with China are completely unfounded," Miller said. "President Trump absolutely believed and advocated for a more aggressive approach to China, but he was elected to end our Nation’s wars, not start new ones.  I was proud to play a small role in achieving those goals." 

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-acting-defense-sec-miller-says-he-did-not-authorize-milley-china-calls-says-he-should-resign

Edited September 16, 2021 by AUFAN78

[Leftfield 2,595]

Well, that settles it. I mean, if you can't trust a man hastily appointed by Donald Trump (and apparently the only general that hasn't lost his integrity) in an interview by the paragon of news services, really, who can you trust?

[AUFAN78 3,894]

3 minutes ago, Leftfield said:

Well, that settles it. I mean, if you can't trust a man hastily appointed by Donald Trump (and apparently the only general that hasn't lost his integrity) in an interview by the paragon of news services, really, who can you trust?

Don't take it personal bro. Someone had to point out you were lost. I'm sure you'll recover.

[TexasTiger 12,848]

I really miss intelligent, thoughtful conservatives that could really engage in meaningful discussion. Those were good times. Now it’s bats#%t crazy   24/7.

[AUFAN78 3,894]

11 minutes ago, TexasTiger said:

I really miss intelligent, thoughtful conservatives that could really engage in meaningful discussion. Those were good times. Now it’s bats#%t crazy   24/7.

This world is full of bats*** crazy for sure, but to put that entirely on conservatives is well bats***crazy. 

[TexasTiger 12,848]

10 hours ago, AUFAN78 said:

This world is full of bats*** crazy for sure, but to put that entirely on conservatives is well bats***crazy. 

Didn’t say that. Conservatives aren’t even conservatives anymore.

[CoffeeTiger 5,107]

29 minutes ago, TexasTiger said:

Didn’t say that. Conservatives aren’t even conservatives anymore.

I'd say there are still thoughtful, intelligent Conservatives in America, they are just Independents or even Democrats now because the Republican party kicked them out or they left it in disgust.  

[TexasTiger 12,848]

7 minutes ago, CoffeeTiger said:

I'd say there are still thoughtful, intelligent Conservatives in America, they are just Independents or even Democrats now because the Republican party kicked them out or they left it in disgust.  

Yes, but small in numbers.

[CoffeeTiger 5,107]

 

*Edited For Clarity* She Used the wrong word. "Court Martial" Is what she is meaning to say. 

A "Marshal" is a prestigious title. 

Edited September 16, 2021 by CoffeeTiger