October 13, 2024 – Retired Army General Mark Milley, known for his involvement in several controversial actions during his tenure as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under former President Donald Trump, is reportedly terrified that Trump will recall him to uniform and court-martial him if he regains the presidency in 2024. Milley, notorious for saying he wants to understand “white rage” and for his involvement in what has been accused of being a plot to take down Trump, reported those concerns to the journalist Bob Woodward who transcribes them in a forthcoming book.
Milley, reports The Guardian, “has communicated his fear to former employees, inferring his worry from Trump’s public remarks and from the former White House adviser Steve Bannon.” Bannon, who has publicly embraced Trump, has made it abundantly clear that Trump critics or opponents, including Milley, will be “held accountable.”
In Woodward’s book, Milley allegedly described Trump as a “walking, talking advertisement of what he’s going to try to do.” Milley warned that Trump’s rhetoric is not just a personal vendetta but is backed by those in his inner circle, such as Bannon, who reportedly said of Milley: “We’re gonna hold him accountable.”
Milley’s concerns are not novel. Trump has already spoken about recalling and jailing former senior members of the military for calling him out. These include the former Admiral William McRaven, who oversaw the killing of Osama bin Laden, and the retired General Stanley McChrystal, who wiped out the al-Qaeda commander Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq. Milley, however, convinced Trump to refrain from doing these things in his first term, but he apparently believes there would be no such “guardrails” if Trump went back to the Oval Office.
Milley’s tenure at the office has drew fierce scrutiny. Perhaps the most controversial segment involved Milley making two unannounced calls to Chinese military commanders in the last months of Trump’s presidency. Such requests reassured China that Milley would alert it beforehand in the event that the US intervened militarily against them (a move that critics have described as treasonous ).
In addition, Milley has come under fire for his part in the messy withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, during which the United States abandoned an estimated $80 billion in military technology to the Taliban. The unilateral withdrawal from Afghanistan without prior preparation became a target of universal condemnation from both camps of government.
Milley also had his own part in the 6 January 2021 incident. He is reported to have counseled against sending in the National Guard or the active-duty military to hold things together, an idea that many believe lead to the storming of the Capitol. This, in turn, caused Ashli Babbitt’s death and Trump’s impeachment.
In Milley’s mind, the prospect of a Trump comeback seems threatening, and it is undoubtedly true that if Trump was elected again, there would be immense pressure on people like Milley to answer for their actions. All of which is to say, the vote in 2024 might also be how US government gets off the hook, and if, like Milley, there will ever be repercussions for policies enacted during its tenure.
When conflicts get to the boiling point, it’ll be interesting to see how that will play out. But for now, Milley’s anxiety is an example of how polarized the US government is and what we could expect in retribution should Trump be elected again.
