August 06, 2021
A new book asserts that President Donald Trump toyed with the idea of launching a military attack on Iran as part of his effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and stay in office.
The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, opposed any such act and reportedly told Trump he was “gonna have a f****** war” if he attacked Iran in the final months of his presidency.
The exchange is detailed in an upcoming book by The New Yorker’s Susan Glasser and The New York Times’ Peter Baker. The pair interviewed nearly 200 people about Trump’s time in the White House.
The book says Milley repeatedly cautioned Trump against provoking Iran.
The authors say Iran was a frequently discussed topic in White House meeting in the aftermath of the election. Trump was “willing to do anything to stay in power,” the authors assert.
Trump wasn’t proposing an invasion of Iran but discussed launching a military strike on Iran’s primary nuclear. Ultimately, Trump was talked out of launching the strike.
According to the book, a meeting that did not involve Trump occurred in which his officials were contemplating attacking the country. Gen. Milley asked “why they were so intent on attacking the country.”
Vice President Mike Pence reportedly replied “because they are evil.”
Three days before the January 6 Capitol riot, Trump apparently participated in a meeting to discuss the latest nuclear activities in Iran. Gen Milley; Robert O’Brien, the national security adviser; and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reportedly advised that attacking Iran was not an option.
Trump apparently finally got the message and stopped considering a potential strike.
Gen. Milley envisioned two “nightmare scenarios” that Trump would resort to as a way to stay in power. The first was by deploying the military to “prevent the legitimate, peaceful transfer of power.” The second was to create an external crisis by striking Iran, allowing Trump to declare emergency powers and stay in power.
Gen. Milley told his aides it was Trump’s “Reichstag moment,” comparing the threat to Adolf Hitler’s strategy of creating a crisis to seize total power in 1933.
Trump has responded to the allegations that he was planning a coup by saying he “never threatened, or spoke about, to anyone, a coup of our government.”
“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. The former president has issued a blanket denial on the myriad books that are being published on his administration, even though Trump sat for interviews for many of the projects.