Army Joint General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff, pauses at a briefing at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, on August 18, 2021.
Yuri Gripas | Reuters
WASHINGTON – Joint Chief of Staff President Mark Milley made two phone calls to his Chinese counterpart during the waning months of Donald Trump’s presidency to secretly assure Beijing that the United States would not attack the country, he confirmed on Wednesday a spokesman for Milley.
Journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa first reported calls in the upcoming book “Danger.”
“His calls with the Chinese and others in October and January were in line with those roles and responsibilities that conveyed reassurance to maintain strategic stability,” spokesman Colonel Dave Butler said.
All of Milley’s calls were coordinated with the rest of the Department of Defense and other relevant agencies, Butler added.
Milley did not say Trump in the calls.
Woodward and Costa describe how Milley learned in October 2020 that the Chinese had worried that Trump would preemptively attack China because Trump was losing the 2020 election and his rhetoric against China was increasingly hostile.
Milley called his Chinese counterpart again on January 8, 2021, two days after the attack on the Capitol, to reassure him that the US government was stable and not an immediate threat to China. .
Milley’s spokesman also appeared to confirm that Milley had spoken to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the days following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, to assure her there were guarantees to prevent it. that Trump would drop nuclear weapons or order the military to somehow try to keep him in power after losing the election.
He told Pelosi that “there is no chance of a snowball in hell that this president, or any president, can drop nuclear weapons illegally, immorally, unethically without proper certification,” according to the book.
After the call, Milley, who “did not feel the absolute certainty that the military could control or trust Trump,” held a meeting with senior officials at the National Center for Military Command to review procedures for launching nuclear weapons.
The revelations sparked outrage from some Republicans, including Trump, who suggested that Milley had committed a crime by going on the back of the then president to communicate U.S. policy to foreign opponents.
But they don’t seem to have damaged Milley’s position with Trump’s successor, President Joe Biden.
When a reporter asked Biden on Wednesday if Milley did “the right thing,” Biden replied, “I have a lot of confidence in General Milley.”
“Danger” will be released on Tuesday.
CNBC’s Dan Mangan contributed to this article.