In Open Letter to General Milley, Two Veterans Warn Trump Is Following ‘Playbook of Dictators,’ US Military May Need to Remove Him If He Loses
President Donald Trump (center) walks with CJCS General Mark Milley (right). Photo credit: Brendan Smialowski, AFP via Getty Images.
John Nagl, a retired Army officer, and Paul Yingling, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, penned an open letter to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley — warning him that President Donald Trump might refuse to leave office in November and that the U.S. military must be prepared to remove him.
Nagl and Yingling pointed out that because of Trump’s history in office and “a dangerous confluence of circumstances,” the 45th president may attempt to stay in office past his term, noting that Milley will have to make a choice come November.
“We do not live in ordinary times. The President of the United States is actively subverting our electoral system, threatening to remain in office in defiance of our Constitution,” they wrote. “In a few months’ time, you may have to choose between defying a lawless president or betraying your Constitutional oath.”
The two claimed that under a Trump presidency, authoritarian rule was a possibility in the United States, noting that his “certain electoral defeat” could force him to face criminal charges.
They predicted that Trump would be defeated in November due to the more than 163,ooo American deaths amid the coronavirus pandemic, adding that the number will likely double by Election Day. The veterans homed in on the current unemployment rate and pointed out that the U.S. economy has faced the greatest contraction in its history this past quarter.
“Mr. Trump is following the playbook of dictators throughout history: he is building a private army answerable only to him, the pair added. “These powerful crosscurrents—Mr. Trump’s electoral defeat, his assault on the integrity of our elections, his impending criminal prosecution, and his creation of a private army—will collide on January 20. Rather than accept the peaceful transfer of power that has been the hallmark of American democracy since its inception. Mr. Trump may refuse to leave office.”
Nagl and Yingling bashed the president’s attacks on mail-in voting and noted that he is attempting to sabotage the U.S. Postal Service — pointing to his suggestion to delay the election, and guessing that he is trying to discredit absentee votes.
“Then the clock will strike 12:01 PM, January 20, 2021, and Donald Trump will be sitting in the Oval Office. The street protests will inevitably swell outside the White House, and the ranks of Trump’s private army will grow inside its grounds,” they predicted.
“The speaker of the House will declare the Trump presidency at an end, and direct the Secret Service and Federal Marshals to remove Trump from the premises. These agents will realize that they are outmanned and outgunned by Trump’s private army, and the moment of decision will arrive.”
They ended the letter by reminding General Milley of the oath he took to “defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic”:
“I, Mark A. Milley, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”
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