Former President Donald Trump and Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley engaged in a yelling match during a confrontation over how to handle racial justice protests, according to a book.
In his forthcoming book, “Frankly, We Did Win This Election,” The Wall Street Journal’s Michael Bender wrote about the exchange that took place in the Situation Room in 2020, as Axios reports.
Bender described the scene as Trump sat down with former U.S. Attorney General William Barr, Milley, and former Defense Secretary Mark Esper in the Situation Room.
He wrote, “Trump exaggerated claims about the violence and alarmed officials … by announcing he’d just put Milley ‘in charge.'”
Bender noted, “Privately, Milley confronted Trump about his role. He was an adviser, and not in command. But Trump had had enough.”
Trump reportedly shouted at Milley, “I said you’re in f***ing charge!”
Milley then allegedly yelled back, “Well, I’m not in charge!”
The former president went on, “You can’t f***ing talk to me like that!”
Milley said, “Goddamnit. There’s a room full of lawyers here. Will someone inform him of my legal responsibilities?”
Barr jumped in, “He’s right, Mr. President. The general is right.”
When asked about the exchange, Trump told Axios’ Jonathan Swan through an aide, “This is totally fake news, it never ever happened. I’m not a fan of Gen. Milley, but I never had an argument with him and the whole thing is false. He never talked back to me. Michael Bender never asked me about it and it’s totally fake news.”
He continued, “If Gen. Milley had yelled at me, I would have fired him.”
Bender also told Swan the exchange “was confirmed by multiple senior administration officials during the course of hundreds of hours of interviews with dozens of top Trump World aides for this book.”
He said Trump did not respond to his request for his side of the story.
Trump recently criticized Milley for his defense of studying critical race theory. He called Milley’s testimony before the House Committee on Armed Services last week “sad,” adding, “I watched his statement, it was pathetic.”