Former President Donald Trump’s actions after losing the 2020 election defied any sense of presidential decorum or decency. They cost the GOP control of the Senate and encouraged a violent mob to storm the Capitol and “stop the steal.” His denial of a legitimate election loss was egregious enough that Trump loyalists of half a decade, such as Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, had genuine concerns in the final weeks of his administration, with the vice president acting as the final bulwark to protect President Joe Biden’s victory.
But none of Trump’s actions justified top military adviser Mark Milley allegedly promising the People’s Liberation Army’s general that he would warn him if Trump decide to launch an attack.
According to a new Trump expose by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff had an established line of communication with his Chinese counterpart, Li Zuocheng of the PLA. The Washington Post describes a call made by Milley before the election thus:
In the book’s account, Milley went so far as to pledge he would alert his counterpart in the event of a U.S. attack, stressing the rapport they’d established through a backchannel. “General Li, you and I have known each other for now five years. If we’re going to attack, I’m going to call you ahead of time. It’s not going to be a surprise.”
CNN, which also obtained an advance of the book due for release later this month, included this description of Milley’s behavior:
At best, the combined reports paint a picture of an unelected bureaucrat every bit as authoritarian as the president he claimed to fear. At worst, Milley seems to have toyed with treason, promising to protect a hostile foreign adversary in the case that a legitimately elected commander in chief, however wrongly intentioned, exercised his military authority.
Milley must go. That was already apparent from the Biden administration’s disastrous evacuation of Afghanistan, which culminated in the restoration of the Taliban and left behind an unknown number of American citizens, legal permanent residents, and allies.
It was one thing for Milley to secure authority away from the president behind the scenes but within the administration. It’s another thing entirely to pledge a sort of fealty to the world’s worst human rights abuser out of apparent political animus. Biden had reasons enough to oust Milley after the fall of Kabul. Now all of Washington, D.C., has a political excuse to do so.
