Gen. Milley Went Behind Trump’s Back To Prevent Him From Starting A War

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Gen. Mark Milley called his Chinese counterpart twice to prevent Trump from starting a war.

The Washington Post reported on Robert Costa and Bob Woodward’s new book Peril:

In a pair of secret phone calls, Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, assured his Chinese counterpart, Gen. Li Zuocheng of the People’s Liberation Army, that the United States would not strike, according to a new book by Washington Post associate editor Bob Woodward and national political reporter Robert Costa.

One call took place on Oct. 30, 2020, four days before the election that unseated President Trump, and the other on Jan. 8, 2021, two days after the Capitol siege carried out by his supporters in a quest to cancel the vote.

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The United States was in jeopardy right before and after Trump lost the election. Trump looked like he was going to lose for weeks prior to election day, so it is not a surprise that so many were on alert for a potential attack against a foreign country.

As January 6th revealed, Trump was willing to do anything to stay in power, so the idea that he could have launched an attack against China is not fantasy. If Trump believed that starting a war would have won him a second term, he would have started the war.

The country was saved by the actions of a lot of people who placed democracy and the nation ahead of all else.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association