The fact that Donald Trump's last days in the presidency were among the most explosive in the nation's history could not be denied after his supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6th.
Now two authors of the Washington Post are making the shocking realization public that there was almost a test of strength between Trump and the military: America's highest-ranking officer and military advisor to the President, General Mark Milley, feared a Trump coup and took countermeasures.
"This is a Reichstag moment" is said to have said Milley to employees before the storm on the Capitol, alluding to the Reichstag fire of February 1933 and the seizure of power by the National Socialists. Trump's talk of the stolen election, according to Milley, is similar to the "message from the Führer" that Trump is presenting himself, like Hitler, as a victim and savior. Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker report it in their recently published book "I Alone Can Fix It - Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year", for which they spoke to more than 140 people, most of whom can only be cited anonymously.
Milley is said to have discussed with other military officials how to prevent a coup - for example by resigning high-ranking officers if Trump issued illegal orders. Before the election, Trump had considered replacing insubordinate figures in the military and secret service, such as the CIA boss Gina Haspel, with loyal supporters. After the election, Trump's former security advisor, retired (and imprisoned for false testimony until Trump pardoned him), urged Trump to proclaim martial law and order a new election under military supervision.
Milley had become chief of staff in October 2019.
In June of last year, he was criticized for his appearance in combat uniform next to Trump after he had cleared Lafayette Square in front of the White House in order to stage himself in front of a church with a Bible in hand.
Milley later said this was a mistake.
In August 2020, Milley had promised a free, fair election on November 3rd without military intervention.
Leonnig and Rucker write that Milley has become increasingly nervous in light of Trump's ongoing claims after the vote count that the election was stolen from him.
"Brown shirts on the streets"
In a safety briefing before the “Million MAGA March” by Trump supporters on November 14, Milley said he was afraid of “brown shirts in the streets”. According to the authors, an old friend called him and warned of an overthrow by Trump's followers. “You may try,” Milley would later say to officers, “but you won't be fucking successful. You can't do something like that without the military. You can't do that without the FBI and the CIA. We're the boys with the guns. ”After January 6, House spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi asked Milley for a guarantee that Trump would not shoot nuclear weapons. Milley replied, "Ma'am, I guarantee that controls are in place."
Leonnig and Rucker's Trump book is one of three these days. Michael Wolff accuses the media in “Landslide” of never having understood Trump. He cannot be measured by normal standards because he lives in a split-off reality. In Michael Bender's “Frankly, We Did Win This Election”, Hitler again appears: Trump is quoted as saying “Hitler did many good things”. In particular, Bender records Trump's wickedness and contempt for his opponents and disgraced followers.
In addition to a certain weariness in the face of the flood of Trump books, criticism of the self-portrayal of journalists is loud. Bender preferred his book after his publisher discovered the imminent publication of the other two. Another five Trump books by journalists have been announced, including one by Bob Woodward. And then there's the New York Times piece about the Trump books. It even turned into a scandal because the author Katie Rogers lets a literary agent speak who - which she hides - markets her own book about Jill Biden. Trump, whose plans for a renewed presidential candidacy move the country, it may be right. He gave extensive interviews to the book authors. Once more he rules the stage.