{"id":72747,"date":"2022-08-08T16:57:45","date_gmt":"2022-08-08T16:57:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/08\/08\/milley-almost-quit-over-trump-wrote-biting-resignation-letter-new-book-reveals\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:51:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:51:43","slug":"milley-almost-quit-over-trump-wrote-biting-resignation-letter-new-book-reveals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/2022\/08\/08\/milley-almost-quit-over-trump-wrote-biting-resignation-letter-new-book-reveals\/","title":{"rendered":"Milley almost quit over Trump, wrote biting resignation letter, new book reveals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In an excerpt released Aug. 8 by the New Yorker<\/a>, authors Peter Baker and Susan Glasser \u2014 senior reporters for the New York Times and the New Yorker, respectively \u2014 reveal shocking details from inside former President Donald Trump\u2019s relationship with top military brass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their book, \u201cThe Divider: Trump in the White House,\u201d Baker and Glasser outline the departure of seemingly one top official after another, starting with the decision to replace former Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford in late 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese were very untalented people and once I realized it, I did not rely on them, I relied on the real generals and admirals within the system,\u201d Trump told the New Yorker about top military leadership, including generals Dunford, John Kelly and James Mattis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also revealed in the excerpt is a never-seen-before letter of resignation written by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Written in the days and weeks following the killing of George Floyd and the resulting Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, Milley outlined how the Trump White House was causing fear and distrust of the military in the eyes of Americans across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou are using the military to create fear in the minds of the people\u2014and we are trying to protect the American people,\u201d Milley wrote. \u201cI cannot stand idly by and participate in that attack, verbally or otherwise, on the American people. The American people trust their military and they trust us to protect them against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and our military will do just that. We will not turn our back on the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"President
President Donald Trump walks with Attorney General William Barr, left, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper ,center, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley, right, and others from the White House to visit St. John’s Church after the area was cleared of people protesting the death of George Floyd June 1, 2020, in Washington. (Brendan Smialowski\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Milley also went on to detail how serving Trump meant going back on the oath all service members make to uphold the standards set forth in the U.S. Constitution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all Americans,\u201d He wrote. \u201cThat under these colors of red, white, and blue\u2014the colors that my parents fought for in World War II\u2014means something around the world. It\u2019s obvious to me that you don\u2019t think of those colors the same way I do. It\u2019s obvious to me that you don\u2019t hold those values dear and the cause that I serve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Milley rounded out the letter he never sent \u2014 following advise from other prominent military leaders including retired Army Gen. James Dubik and former secretary of defense and CIA chief Robert Gates \u2014 by claiming that the president was undoing lessons learned and conflicts fought since the First World War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is my deeply held belief that you\u2019re ruining the international order, and causing significant damage to our country overseas, that was fought for so hard by the Greatest Generation that they instituted in 1945,\u201d Milley accused Trump. \u201cBetween 1914 and 1945, 150 million people were slaughtered in the conduct of war. They were slaughtered because of tyrannies and dictatorships. That generation, like every generation, has fought against that, has fought against fascism, has fought against Nazism, has fought against extremism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s now obvious to me that you don\u2019t understand that world order,\u201d he wrote. \u201cYou don\u2019t understand what the war was all about. In fact, you subscribe to many of the principles that we fought against. And I cannot be a party to that. It is with deep regret that I hereby submit my letter of resignation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The full book will offer not just the chaotic relationships with military leaders but more in-depth looks at a number of controversial moments from the Trump years, including the months between the November 2020 presidential election and the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection in Washington D.C.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also included will be more insights behind the withdrawals and troop drawdowns in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the excerpt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to the president on the idea for a military parade, and highlighted in the excerpt as perhaps an overall theme held throughout the book, retired Air Force Gen. Paul Selva told Trump that after growing up in a dictatorship in Portugal, parades showing citizens who had the guns was a threat, and something that as Americans, \u201cwe don\u2019t do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo, you don\u2019t like the idea?\u201d Trump had reportedly asked him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo,\u201d Selva said. \u201cIt\u2019s what dictators do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Divider: Trump in the White House,\u201d is expected to be published late next month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cYou are using the military to create fear in the minds of the people,” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. 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