Former President Donald Trump slammed the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Mark Milley for fearing Trump might orchestrate a 'coup' after losing the election last year to President Joe Biden.
In a statement Friday, Trump said that if Milley said what was reported he should 'perhaps be impeached, or court-martialed and tried.'
'So, there was no talk of a coup, there was no coup, it all never happened, and it's just a waste of words by fake writers and a General who didn't have a clue,' Trump said.
Former President Donald Trump (left) slammed Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Mark Milley (right) in a statement Friday saying he should be 'impeached, or court-martialed and tried' after reports said Milley feared Trump would try to orchestrate a coup
The ex-president again expressed that he lost confidence in Milley after the general publicly apologized for walking alongside Trump during his June 1 photo-op, when the president held up a Bible in front of St. John's church just minutes after teargas was used to clear out Black Lives Matter protesters.
Trump referred to it as 'our little walk to the church.'
'He tries to be a tough guy, which he is not, but he choked beyond belief as soon as a microphone was stuffed in front of his face or, at the mere sight of the Fake News Media,' Trump said.
New reporting from Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker's forthcoming book I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year revealed that Milley was ecstatic on Biden's inauguration day because the country has survived the Trump coup threat.
'No one has a bigger smile today than I do,' he told former first lady Michelle Obama, according to a new book. 'You can't see it under my mask, but I do.'
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Mark Milley (left) expressed to former first lady Michelle Obama (right) that, 'No one has a bigger smile today than I do,' after President Joe Biden was sworn in. 'You can't see it under my mask, but I do'
Milley (left), seen with Obama (center left) and Bill and Hillary Clinton (right) at Biden's inauguration, was worried for months that former President Donald Trump would attempt a coup after he lost the election to his Democratic rival
After Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were sworn-in, Harris took a moment to thank Milley.
'We all know what you and some others did,' she said, according to the authors. 'Thank you.' Milley, in his own words to the authors, expressed relief there had not been a coup.
'Thank God Almighty, we landed the ship safely,' Milley said.
Milley had been worried Trump would initiate a war against Iran after he lost the November election Biden as a ploy to stay in power, according to a report.
Republicans including Donald Trump and commentators such as Tucker Carlson have called for President Biden to fire Milley over a multitude of claims in the newly-released books.
Trump responded to the recent Milley reports by saying the commander was the 'last person' who would conduct a coup with and criticized him for 'choking like a dog' during the Black Lives Matter protests during the summer of 2020.
Milley has also come under fire for vowing to defend the teaching of Critical Race Theory to military recruits.
Milley thought that the United States came 'very close' to a full-blown military conflict with Iran.
He feared Trump would start a war with Iran as a pretext to remain in power even after Biden was declared the lawful winner, according to The New Yorker.
DailyMail.com has reached out to Trump's office seeking comment.
In January 2020, Trump ordered a precision airstrike that killed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Qasem Soleimani.
It provoked tensions between Washington and Tehran in the aftermath but didn't result in war.
According to The New Yorker, Milley was concerned about two possible scenarios.
He was worried Trump would either seek 'to use the military on the streets of America to prevent the legitimate, peaceful transfer of power' or that the lame duck president would set in motion a chain of events that would lead to a full-blown crisis.
After Biden was declared the winner, Milley had daily conference calls with then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
The general was so concerned about what Trump was up to that he viewed the daily meetings as a way to keep tabs on the president.
In the days and weeks after the election, Trump is said to have repeatedly raised the topic of striking Iran. The image above shows Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran on June 4
Milley is reported to have told staff members that he viewed those phone calls as 'land the plane' calls since 'both engines are out, the landing gear are stuck, we're in an emergency situation.'
The claims were made in a new book due out next week titled I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year
'Our job is to land this plane safely and to do a peaceful transfer of power the 20th of January,' Milley is quoted as saying by The New Yorker.
Throughout 2020, Milley was reportedly fearful of what Trump might do.
He laid out a four-point plan: make sure the US didn't engage in unnecessary wars overseas; prevent US troops from being used on the streets of America against the American people; maintain the military's integrity; and maintain his own integrity.
After the election, Milley was said to have been horrified to hear that Trump would not accept the outcome.
So he met with the Joint Chiefs and devised a plan whereby each of them would resign one by one if Trump issued any unlawful orders, according to The New Yorker.
Milley also reportedly made it clear to senior members of Congress, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who then held the title of majority leader, that Trump would not succeed in using the military to stay in power unlawfully.
Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was so convinced that Trump would attempt a coup after his election loss to Joe Biden that he and other senior generals made plans to stop him, according to a new book. Milley is seen left with Trump at the Army-Navy college football game in Philadelphia in December 2018
'Our loyalty is to the US Constitution,' Milley reportedly told them, adding 'we are not going to be involved in politics.'
While Trump was claiming the election was stolen, he and his aides also reportedly raised the possibility of launching strikes against Iran in response to provocations.
Milley repeatedly urged Trump not to attack Iran, fearing it would lead to war, The New Yorker reported.
Trump was being encouraged to attack Iran by hawkish anti-Iran advisers as well as by Israel's then-prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
In early January, when Trump suggested a missile strike against Iran, Milley pushed back, warning: 'If you do this, you're gonna have a f***ing war.'
On January 3, Trump returned to the White House after spending the Christmas break at Mar-a-Lago.
He held a meeting in the Oval Office with Pompeo and then-National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien.
The two aides told Trump that it was too late to attack Iran's nuclear sites.
Milley echoed those sentiments, telling Trump what the potential costs would be of carrying out such an attack.
Trump agreed, and the issue was dropped.
At the end of the meeting, Trump asked Milley and acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller if they were ready for the 'wild' rally that was scheduled for January 6.
'It's gonna be a big deal,' Milley reportedly heard Trump say.
'You're ready for that, right?'
Three days later, Trump's supporters ransacked the US Capitol.
The report surfaced a day after an explosive excerpt from a forthcoming book about the Trump presidency describes how Milley was concerned the outgoing leader would attempt a coup in the days and weeks after the election.
Milley reportedly referred to Trump supporters as 'brownshirts' and compared the former president to Hitler. The image above shows Trump supporters rioting at the US Capitol on January 6
The former president insisted on Thursday that he wouldn't have used the military to illegally seize control of the government after his election loss.
But he suggested that if he had tried to carry out a coup, it wouldn't have been with Milley, his top military adviser.
In a lengthy statement, Trump responded to revelations in a new book detailing fears from Milley that the outgoing president would stage a coup during his final weeks in office.
Trump said he's 'not into coups' and 'never threatened, or spoke about, to anyone, a coup of our Government.'
'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 said.
'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. 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,' Trump also said. 'I often act counter to people's advice who I don't respect.'
His comment about a coup was in response to new reporting from I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year by Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporters Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker.
The book reports that Milley was shaken by Trump's refusal to concede in the weeks after the election.
According to early excerpts published by CNN and the Post on Wednesday ahead of its release, Milley was so concerned that Trump or his allies might try to use the military to remain in power that he and other top officials strategized about how they might block him - even hatching a plan to resign, one by one.
Milley also reportedly compared Trump's rhetoric to Adolf Hitler's during his rise to power.
'This is a Reichstag moment,' Milley reportedly told aides. 'The gospel of the Führer.'
Milley's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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