Top US military official defends phone calls to Chinese counterpart made during final days of Trump presidency
- General Mark Milley says that the calls were made in coordination with other defence department officials
- The calls, he says, were to reassure Beijing that the US would not launch an attack on the country
Testifying before the Senate, General Mark Milley said that the calls were made in coordination with other defence department officials, including then defence secretary Mark Esper and then acting defence secretary Christopher Miller. He added that he was “certain that president Trump did not intend to attack the Chinese”.
“The specific purpose of the … calls were generated by concerning intelligence, which caused us to believe the Chinese worried about an attack on them by the United States,” MilIey said in a prepared statement. “I am certain that president Trump did not intend to attack the Chinese, and it is my directed responsibility, and it was my direct responsibility by the secretary to convey that intent to the Chinese.”
One call took place on October 30, 2020, four days before the election that Trump lost. The second call was on January 8, 2021, less than two weeks before Biden’s inauguration and just two days after Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol.
Milley also said that he personally informed former secretary of state Mike Pompeo and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows about the second call “shortly” after it concluded.