BREAKING: Gen. Mark Milley Protected Nuclear Weapons From Being Launched By ‘Rogue’ Trump, Woodward Reports

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Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley became so concerned that outgoing President Donald Trump would go “rogue” that he took steps to prevent him from launching nuclear weapons, according to a new and forthcoming book from Bob Woodward.

Woodward is, of course, the award-winning author of many behind-the-scenes books about many presidents, and his new book (co-written by Washington Post colleague Robert Costa), Peril, is an account of the final days of the Trump administration.

First reported by CNN, Woodward and Costa report that Milley took “top-secret action to limit Trump from potentially ordering a dangerous military strike or launching nuclear weapons.” CNN reports:

Woodward and Costa write that Milley, deeply shaken by the assault, ‘was certain that Trump had gone into a serious mental decline in the aftermath of the election, with Trump now all but manic, screaming at officials and constructing his own alternate reality about endless election conspiracies.’

Milley worried that Trump could ‘go rogue,’ the authors write.

“You never know what a president’s trigger point is,” Milley told his senior staff, according to the book.

In response, Milley took extraordinary action, and called a secret meeting in his Pentagon office on January 8 to review the process for military action, including launching nuclear weapons. Speaking to senior military officials in charge of the National Military Command Center, the Pentagon’s war room, Milley instructed them not to take orders from anyone unless he was involved.

“No matter what you are told, you do the procedure. You do the process. And I’m part of that procedure,” Milley told the officers, according to the book. He then went around the room, looked each officer in the eye, and asked them to verbally confirm they understood.

Since leaving office, Trump and Milley have had what can most charitably be called an inimical relationship. Reports of Milley upsetting the chain of command and subverting the powers of the Commander in Chief, if true, will almost certainly be portrayed as unconstitutional by conservative media but will also be likely lauded by progressives in the press.

Peril is scheduled for release on September 21st.