Former President Trump in a statement Thursday denied that he ever threatened or spoke about taking part in a government coup after his election loss, adding that Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley would be one of the last people he’d ask to take part in a coup if he were to do such a thing.
“I never threatened, or spoke about, to anyone, a coup of our Government,” Trump said in a statement emailed to reporters that repeated his claims — disputed by courts and state officials from both parties across the country — that the election was stolen from him.
“So ridiculous! Sorry to inform you, but an Election is my form of ‘coup,’ and if I was going to do a coup, one of the last people I would want to do it with is General Mark Milley,” Trump added.
Trump was responding to reports based on excerpts of the book “I Alone Can Fix It,” by Washington Post reporters Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker that is set for release on Tuesday.
In the book, it is reported that Milley and others were concerned Trump would try to stage a coup to stay in power.
The book claims Milley even discussed the possibility of the coup with his deputies.
“They may try, but they’re not going to f—— succeed,” Milley told his deputies while discussing the possibility of a coup, according to the book. “You can’t do this without the military. You can’t do this without the CIA and the FBI. We’re the guys with the guns.”
Trump and Milley have repeatedly battled since Trump lost his reelection bid, and the former president was scathing in his statement
“He got his job only because the world’s most overrated general, James Mattis, could not stand him, had no respect for him, and would not recommend him,” Trump said. “To me the fact that Mattis didn’t like him, just like Obama didn’t like him and actually fired Milley, was a good thing, not a bad thing. I often act counter to people’s advice who I don’t respect.”
In fact, Trump nominated Milley to serve as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a position the Senate confirmed him to in 2019.
Trump in the latest statement said he “lost respect” for Milley after the general criticized his threats to use the military against people protesting the George Floyd murder in the summer of 2020.
“In any event, I lost respect for Milley when we walked together to St. John’s Church (which was still smoldering from a Radical Left fire set the day before), side by side, a walk that has now been proven to be totally appropriate—and the following day Milley choked like a dog in front of the Fake News when they told him they thought he should not have been walking with the President, which turned out to be incorrect,” Trump said.
“He apologized profusely, making it a big story, instead of saying I am proud to walk with and protect the President of the United States. Had he said that, it would have all been over, no big deal, but I saw at that moment he had no courage or skill, certainly not the type of person I would be talking “coup” with. I’m not into coups!”
Trump also criticized Milley for supporting the renaming of bases that had been named after Confederate leaders, describing him as “woke.”
The book by the Washington Post reporters also says Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called Milley because she was concerned Trump would use nuclear weapons toward the end of his presidency.
Trump also dismissed that accusation, saying Pelosi is a “nut job.”
“Nancy Pelosi is a known nut job. Her enraged quotes that she was afraid that I would use nuclear weapons is just more of the same. In fact, I was the one who got us out of wars, not into wars,” Trump said.