Trump Yelled at Gen. Mark Milley ‘You Can’t F*cking Talk to Me Like That’ During Heated Situation Room Fight; Report
OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP
Former President Donald Trump and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley engaged in an ugly shouting match in a heated Situation Room confrontation, according to a new book excerpt first published by Jonathan Swan and Axios. The excerpt comes from The Wall Street Journal’s Michael Bender and forthcoming book, Frankly, We Did Win This Election.
The heated dust-up came in June of 2020 as civil protests swept the nation following the extrajudicial murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, which spawned a racial reckoning across the country.
As Swan describes the context of the argument, Trump wanted to “invoke the Insurrection Act and put Milley in charge of a scorched-earth military campaign to suppress protests that had spiraled into riots in several cities.” Bender describes the Situation Room dust-up:
Seated in the Situation Room with [Attorney General Bill] Barr, Milley, and [Secretary of Defense Mark] Esper,
Trump exaggerated claims about the violence and alarmed officials … by announcing he’d just put Milley “in charge.”
Privately, Milley confronted Trump about his role. He was an adviser, and not in command. But Trump had had enough.
“I said you’re in f—ing charge!” Trump shouted at him.
“Well, I’m not in charge!” Milley yelled back.
“You can’t f—ing talk to me like that!” Trump said. …
“Goddamnit,” Milley said to others. “There’s a room full of lawyers here. Will someone inform him of my legal responsibilities?”
“He’s right, Mr. President,” Barr said. “The general is right.”
Trump dismissed this report to Swan through an aide, “This is totally fake news, it never ever happened. I’m not a fan of Gen. Milley, but I never had an argument with him, and the whole thing is false. He never talked back to me. Michael Bender never asked me about it, and it’s totally fake news.” Trump later added: “If Gen. Milley had yelled at me, I would have fired him.”
Bender has addressed this passage on Twitter:
Milley has been at the center of a recent political firestorm after he explained during a congressional hearing to Rep. Matt Gaetz the benefits of teaching Critical Race Theory to military cadets so that there is a greater understanding of the “White rage” that was on evidence during the attack of the Capitol on January 6th.
