Outgoing Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley believes former President Donald Trump’s recent suggestion that he deserved to be executed after speaking with a Chinese general during Trump’s fraught final months in office is part of a broader swipe at the US military by its former commander in chief

Speaking to CBS’s Norah O’Donnell in a “60 Minutes” clip released on Wednesday, Milley – who also said he will “take appropriate measures” to ensure his and his family’s personal safety in the wake of the former president’s remark – offered no regrets about his efforts to reassure his Chinese counterpart about the stability of the US during Trump’s efforts to stay in office. In a Truth Social post last week, Trump said the backchannel communications by Milley amounted to a “treasonous act” that was “so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH!”[…]
Asked by O’Donnell if there was “anything inappropriate or treasonous” about the outreach to China, Milley replied, “absolutely not. Zero. None”

Milley made two backchannel calls to China’s top general, Li Zuocheng, that were revealed in “Peril,” the 2021 book by journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa. In October 2020, as intelligence suggested China believed the US was going to attack them, Milley sought to calm Li by reassuring him that the US was not considering a strike, according to the book. Milley called again two days after the January 6 riot at the US Capitol to tell Li that the US is “100 percent steady” even though “things may look unsteady”

Milley’s actions prompted sharp criticism from Trump and his allies, including calls for Milley’s resignation and that he be tried for treason