Trump’s Milley retribution sends chilling signal to military brass, critics say

President Trump this week revoked a security detail for retired Gen. Mark Milley and announced an investigation into the former Joint Chiefs chair’s conduct, enacting promised retribution while also sending a chilling message to military brass.

Trump, who also revoked Milley’s security clearance in orders to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, has long clashed with Milley, who has been outspoken against the president in books and public comments.

But taking public revenge against him and launching an investigation are moves with little precedent in civil-military relations, and Democratic senators and experts called his actions reckless and petty.

“I think it is completely unjustified,“ said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). “Another act of retribution and revenge that shows the smallness of the president.”

Richard Kohn, emeritus professor at the University of North Carolina and an expert on civil-military relations, said Trump’s move will discourage senior officers from doing their jobs and honestly advising the president, noting a former Joint Chiefs chair has never had their security detail revoked before.

“Trump will be very difficult to deal with because he's really a very insecure person,” Kohn said. “I think he feels jealous of the legitimacy and the respect that senior officers get in American society. So as a result, it just makes it more difficult for them to do their job and to deal with political leadership in an honorable and candid way.”

Pentagon chief of staff Joe Kasper confirmed that Milley’s security detail and clearance were revoked and that the Defense Department Office of Inspector General will conduct an investigation into Milley’s conduct, which will include a review of whether a star can be revoked from the retired four-star general.

Kasper said that “undermining the chain of command is corrosive to our national security.”

“Restoring accountability is a priority for the Defense Department under President Trump’s leadership,” Kasper said in a statement.

Trump signaled he was out for revenge against Milley on the campaign trail, suggesting at one point the retired general should be executed, and on his first day back in office he decried pardons that former President Biden issued for Milley and other Trump foes.

Just hours later, the Pentagon confirmed that a portrait of Milley recognizing him as a former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was taken down.

But critics say taking away Milley’s security detail is a much more serious move, risking the life of the former highest-ranking military officer who carried out Trump’s orders to strike on a top Iranian commander, Qassem Soleimani, in early 2020.

Trump has also revoked security details for other former officials-turned-critics: former national security adviser John Bolton and former CIA Director Mike Pompeo, both of whom Iran has threatened.

Roger Petersen, a professor of political science emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who studies civil-military relations, said he was concerned about Trump’s actions creating a more politicized civilian-military environment, particularly among high-ranking officials.

Petersen, the author of “Death, Domination, and State-Building: The US in Iraq and the Future of American Intervention,” also raised concerns that the current chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. CQ Brown, might resign if pressured to adhere to orders.

“That is giving a signal to military officers that if you go against the Trump program, we can reach you even in retirement, and affect your pension and your status,” he said.

Democrats were quick to slam Trump for revoking the security detail for someone he’s feuded with.

“Just like John Bolton, like Pompeo, these folks have been under real threats to their lives,” said Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.). “It’s wrong for the president to do that. We protect these individuals.”

Kelly expressed concern about the impact on the military at large, adding it sends a message that if “you do not fall in line, that there are consequences.”

Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Milley “and other former Trump Administration officials continue to face credible, deadly threats from Iran because they carried out President Trump's order to kill Iranian General Soleimani.”

“It is unconscionable and recklessly negligent for President Trump and Secretary Hegseth to revoke General Milley's security detail for their own political satisfaction,” he said in a statement. “The Administration has placed Milley and his family in grave danger, and they have an obligation to immediately restore his federal protection.”

Republicans, however, were hesitant to comment on the move, both in person and on social media. Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) said he was unclear about the revocation of the security deal and hadn’t yet talked to Hegseth. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) did not answer a request for comment on Capitol Hill.

Milley and Trump’s feud has simmered for years. The retired U.S. Army general was tapped by Trump in 2019 to lead the Joint Chiefs, but the two soon clashed over the role of the military in responding to racial justice protesters in 2020. Milley also publicly apologized for appearing in a controversial photo shoot with Trump during the rioting.

Trump has also ripped Milley over reports the general called his Chinese counterpart to assure them that in the final days of Trump’s presidency, there was not a risk of escalating conflict or nuclear war.

Trump has tried to refute reports that Milley stopped him from launching an attack on Iran. The dispute is at the center of a now-shuttered Justice Department classified documents case against Trump, who was cited in an indictment as reading from an apparent classified document to make the case to people that Milley recommended an attack on Iran.

Milley, who retired in 2023, has admitted that he has been a source for anti-Trump commentary in books about his presidency. In the 2024 book “War” by journalist Bob Woodward, Milley called Trump “fascist to the core.”

Trump, in turn, has called Milley a “loser” and said he’s guilty of treason.

It’s unclear what exactly the Defense Department inspector general will investigate regarding Milley’s conduct.

In 2022, Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Jim Banks (R-Ind.), who was then in the House, requested the inspector general investigate Milley. But Inspector General Robert Storch, who Trump fired last week, decided to drop the case after finding it unwarranted.

In a statement late Tuesday night, Pentagon spokesperson John Ullyot said the inspector general will “conduct an inquiry into the facts and circumstances surrounding Gen. Milley’s conduct so that the Secretary may determine whether it is appropriate to reopen his military grade review determination.”

Milley’s call to his Chinese counterpart to reassure them could potentially be seen as overriding the chain of command, but Milley has also said he had spoken with a civilian counterpart before. Active-duty military have been punished for speaking against civilian authorities, including retired Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, whose aides were caught mocking then-Vice President Biden, leading to former President Obama firing him in 2010.

But most of Milley’s public criticism has come after retirement and not in active duty, analysts say.

Kohn, from the University of North Carolina, said although Milley has spoken a bit too candidly after leaving office, he does not believe there is anything to investigate.

“I don't think he spoke against Trump. I think he tried to inform people and inform the other political leadership of how he behaved in the last, let's say, six to eight months of his tenure, and why he did what he did,” he said. “But he didn't really speak against Trump, except by implication.”

Peter Feaver, also a civil-military relations expert at the University of North Carolina, agreed.

“When you look at the matter closely, it is hard to find fault in what Gen. Milley actually did,” he said. “But it is concerning that we know so much about what he did, which is the case because somebody talked extensively to the press about what he did.”

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