Milley defends calls to Chinese at end of Trump presidency
WASHINGTON (AP) — The top U.S. military officer told Congress on Tuesday that he knew former President Donald Trump wasn't planning to attack China and that it was his job to reassure the Chinese of that fact in the phone calls that have triggered outrage from some lawmakers.
Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, delivered a vehement defense of two calls he made to his Chinese counterpart, saying he was responding to "concerning intelligence" that China was worried about a U.S. attack.
"I know, I am certain, that President Trump did not intend to attack the Chinese . ... And it was my directed responsibility by the secretary to convey that intent to the Chinese," Milley told the Senate Armed Services Committee. "My task at that time was to de-escalate. My message again was consistent: Stay calm, steady, and de-escalate. We are not going to attack you."
Milley has been at the center of controversy after reports that he made two calls to Gen. Li Zuocheng of the People's
Liberation Army to assure him that the United States was not suddenly going to go to war with or attack China. Details of the calls were first aired in excerpts from the recently released book "Peril" by Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa.
Some U.S. lawmakers have said Milley overstepped his authority, and they have called for President Joe Biden to fire him. Trump blasted Milley as treasonous, called him "a complete nutjob" and said Milley "never told me about calls being made to China."
In his most extensive comments to date on the matter, Milley said the calls on Oct. 30 and Jan. 8 were fully coordinated with the defense secretaries at the time as well as other U.S. national security agencies. And he said that such military-to-military communications are critical to prevent war between great powers that possess nuclear weapons.
The calls came during Trump's turbulent last months in office as he challenged the results of the 2020 election.