In his farewell speech as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley took a swipe at Donald Trump. The former president had accused Milley of treason and suggested he should be given the death penalty in a Truth Social post last week when he contacted Chinese officials to reassure them that the U.S. did not intend to attack in 2021. While he didn’t mention Trump by name on Friday, according to Politico, Milley referred to him, saying, “We are unique among the world’s militaries… we don’t take an oath to a wannabe dictator. We take an oath to the Constitution and we take an oath to the idea that is America–and we’re willing to die to protect it.” Milley has positioned himself against Trump before. In the summer of 2020, he supported work to rename Army bases that honored Confederate generals and testified before Congress that they had committed “treason.” He also took precautions after the Jan. 6 attacks, telling officers from the National Military Command Center to not listen to orders unless he was involved in the decision-making.
