Outgoing Gen. Mark Milley jabs 'wannabe dictator' Trump at retirement ceremony

April 2024 · 4 minute read

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WASHINGTON — Now-former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley took a parting shot at former President Donald Trump during his retirement ceremony Friday.

Explaining the “unique” nature of the US military, the 65-year-old Milley emphasized that we “don’t take an oath to an individual” in America.

“We don’t take an oath to a king, or queen, or a tyrant or a dictator. We don’t take an oath to a wannabe dictator,” spat Milley, apparently referring to Trump, 77.

“… We take an oath to the Constitution, and we take an oath to the idea that is America and we’re willing to die to protect it,” he added.

Milley’s sign-off came seven days after Trump wrote on Truth Social that the general’s impending retirement would be “a time for all citizens of the USA to celebrate!” and insinuated that he deserved the death penalty.

This guy turned out to be a Woke train wreck who, if the Fake News reporting is correct, was actually dealing with China to give them a heads up on the thinking of the President of the United States,” Trump posted.

“This is an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH!”

The former president, who appointed Milley to lead the Joint Staff, was referring to Milley’s reported phone call to Beijing late in Trump’s tenure in which he assured China’s top general, Li Zuocheng, that the US did not intend to attack its adversary.

Milley made the October 2020 call — which was revealed in Bob Woodward and Robert Costa’s 2021 book, “Peril” — after US intelligence officials detected that Beijing believed that Washington was plotting an imminent strike.

Trump has had it out for Milley since before the release of the book, which also revealed that the general had another call with Li two days after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot to reassure China that US was “100 percent steady” even though “things may look unsteady.”

During the last year of his administration, Trump resented Milley for speaking out about his regret for joining the 45th president on a June 2020 walkabout through Lafayette Square after police deployed tear gas and rubber bullets on protesters there to clear the area.

Milley, who told CBS’ “60 Minutes” that he would “take appropriate measures” to ensure his and his family’s safety following Trump’s execution remark, also appeared to use the end of his retirement speech to blast back at the former president — without speaking his name.

“We will never, under any circumstances, turn our back on our duty,” Milley said Friday.

“… We will never turn our back on the Constitution — that is our North Star. That is who we are and that is why we fight.”

The general also quoted the dramatic words of Thomas Paine: “These are the times that try men’s souls … Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered.”

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Following Milley’s remarks, the new chief of the Joint Staff, Air Force Gen. Charles “C.Q.” Brown, formally took command nine days after his Senate confirmation, which was delayed for months after Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) placed a hold on rapid military confirmations.

Tuberville’s hold, which is in protest of a Pentagon policy to pay for troops’ out-of-state travel for reproductive services — including abortion and in-vitro fertilization — prevents the Senate Armed Services Committee from approving nominations in bulk by a unanimous vote.

During Milley’s ceremony, President Biden slammed Tuberville and his fellow Republican senators for holding up the process, noting that he “must be careful here how I say this.”

“It’s thoroughly, totally unacceptable that more than 300 other highly qualified military officers are still in limbo,” he said. “… Their promotion, their careers, their families, their future, held hostage for the political agenda of one senator and the silence of another 47 of them.”

While the Senate last week bypassed Tuberville’s hold by sending the nominations of Brown, new Chief of the Army Gen. Randy George and new Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Eric Smith for a floor vote, more than 316 other military officers are still waiting for confirmation to senior leadership roles.

Should Tuberville continue his protest, it will take the Senate more than 700 hours to confirm each nomination individually, the Pentagon has estimated.

“It’s a drag on our force,” Biden said.

“It impacts everything from readiness to morale retention. And it’s an insult, an insult to the officers’ years of dedicated service. Our troops deserve so much better.”

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