The White House will reportedly stand down as the Navy prepares to take disciplinary action against SEAL Eddie Gallagher.
Despite President Trump’s tweeting Thursday that he would not allow the Navy to strip Gallagher of his SEAL Trident, effectively removing him from his position in the elite unit, an anonymous Navy official confirmed to the Associated Press on Sunday that the military branch was notified that the White House would not step in.
According to the official, the Navy was given guidance on Friday that it can proceed with expelling Gallagher, who was acquitted of murder charges over the summer but convicted of taking a photo with the body of an ISIS fighter he was accused of killing, after the close of his war crimes case. Gallagher was demoted one rank after his conviction, but Trump restored his rank on Nov. 15.
Gallagher’s lawyers had accused Navy officials of “conspiring” to take away his SEAL Trident after the president’s move, but Trump insisted, “The Navy will NOT be taking away Warfighter and Navy Seal Eddie Gallagher’s Trident Pin. This case was handled very badly from the beginning. Get back to business.”
Navy Secretary Richard Spencer, however, indicated on Saturday that he did not perceive the president’s tweet about Gallagher’s SEAL Trident to be a “formal order to act.”
Gallagher appeared on Fox & Friends just before news broke of the White House’s plan to forgo intervening and accused Spencer of “meddling” in his case while also calling the attempts to strip him of his Trident “all about ego and retaliation.”
