A new book is claiming Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley made two phone calls to Chinese officials during the last months of former President Donald Trump’s term.
The calls were reportedly made out of fear that Trump would spark conflict with China at the end of his presidency.
Claims come from the book “Peril”, written by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa. The book reports that General Mark Milley called General Li Zuocheng of the People’s Liberation Army prior to the presidential election on October 30, 2020 and again on January 8, 2021, two days after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Milley allegedly contacted Li after learning that Chinese officials believed the United States was planning an attack on China.
The book claims that during the first call Milley stated, “General Li, I want to assure you that the American government is stable and everything is going to be OK”. “We are not going to attack or conduct any kinetic operations against you”.
It also claims Milley told Li he’d warn them in advance of any attack planned. “Gen. Li, you and I have known each other for now five years. If we’re going to attack, I’m going to call you ahead of time,” Milley said, according to the book.
The second call to Li was reportedly made to assure China that no attack would be made in any form. According to the book, these calls were never brought to Trump’s attention because Milley thought his mental state had declined following the election.
The day of the second call with Li, Milley also spoke to Nancy Pelosi about “available precautions” to prevent Trump from engaging in any military action.
Many are calling Milley’s actions treason, including the former president. On Tuesday, Trump expressed his skepticism of the report, saying “So, first of all, if it is actually true, which is hard to believe, that he would have called China and done these things and was willing to advise them of an attack or in advance of an attack, that’s treason” on Spicer & Co.
Trump added “For the record, I never even thought of attacking China—and China knows that”, and suggested that Milley made up the claims himself in order to divert attention from Afghanistan.
Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson, among many others, also stated Milley should be tried for treason if the claims are true.