Trump's niece criticizes what he said on the anniversary of 9/11 1:05
Washington (CNN) -
Two days after the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol, then-President Donald Trump's top military adviser and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, took action on his own. secret to limiting the possibility of Trump ordering a dangerous military strike or launching nuclear weapons, according to "Peril," a new book by legendary journalist Bob Woodward and veteran Washington Post reporter Robert Costa.
Woodward and Costa write that Milley, deeply shocked by the assault, "was certain that Trump had entered a serious mental decline after the election, with a now almost manic Trump, yelling at officials and building his own alternate reality on endless conspiracies. electoral ".
Milley was concerned that Trump might "rebel," the authors write.
"You never know what will blow up a president," Milley told his senior staff, according to the book.
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In response, Milley took extraordinary measures and called a secret meeting at his Pentagon office on January 8 to review the process of military action, including the launch of nuclear weapons.
Addressing the senior military in charge of the National Military Command Center, Milley ordered them not to take orders from anyone unless he was involved.
"No matter what they tell you, follow the procedure. Follow the process. And I am part of that procedure," Milley told officers, according to the book.
He then walked around the room, looking each officer in the eye and asking them to verbally confirm that they understood.
"Got it?" Milley asked, according to the book.
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"Yes sir".
"Milley considered it an oath," the authors write.
"Peril" is based on more than 200 interviews with participants and first-hand witnesses, and paints a chilling picture of Trump's final days in office.
The book, Woodward's third on the Trump presidency, recounts the behind-the-scenes moments of a deranged and explosive commander-in-chief, yelling at high-level advisers and aides as he desperately sought to cling to power.
It also includes an exclusive report on the events leading up to January 6 and Trump's reaction to the insurrection, as well as newly revealed details about Trump's January 5 Oval Office showdown with his Vice President, Mike Pence.
Woodward and Costa obtained documents, calendars, agendas, emails, meeting notes, transcripts, and other records.
The book also examines Joe Biden's decision to run for office again, the first six months of his presidency, why he pushed so hard to get out of Afghanistan, and how he really feels about Trump.
CNN obtained a copy of "Peril" before its release on September 21.
ANALYSIS |
More evidence that Donald Trump is running a shadow presidency
"You know he's crazy"
Milley's fear was based on his own observations about Trump's erratic behavior.
Their concern was magnified by the events of January 6 and the "extraordinary risk" that the situation posed to the national security of the United States, the authors write.
Milley had already had two unofficial phone calls with China's top general, who was on high alert for the chaos in the United States.
Afterward, Milley received a forceful call from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, according to the book.
Woodward and Costa exclusively obtained a transcript of the call, during which Milley tried to assure Pelosi that the nuclear weapons were safe.
Pelosi answered him.
"What I'm telling you is, if they couldn't even stop him from robbing the Capitol, who knows what else he can do? And is there someone in charge in the White House who was doing more than just kissing his fat ass in all of this?" .
Pelosi continued, "You know he's crazy. He's been crazy for a long time."
According to Woodward and Costa, Milley responded, "Madam President, I agree with you on everything."
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, top center, watches as President Donald Trump signs the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, in December 2019. (AP Photo / Andrew Harnik)
After the call, Milley decided she had to act.
He told his top service chiefs to watch everything "all the time."
He called the director of the National Security Agency, Paul Nakasone, and said: "Intercept ... keep watching, scan."
And he told then-CIA Director Gina Haspel: "Aggressively monitor everything, 360."
The authors write: "Milley was overseeing the mobilization of the US national security state without the knowledge of the American people or the rest of the world."
Woodward and Costa also write that "some might argue that Milley had exceeded his authority and taken extraordinary power for himself," but he believed his actions were "a good faith precaution to ensure that there was no historical break. in the international order, that there was no accidental war with China or others, and that nuclear weapons were not used. "
Trump goes rebellious
Milley's fear that Trump might do something unpredictable comes from experience.
Right after Trump lost the election, Milley discovered that the president had signed a military order to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by January 15, 2021, before leaving the White House.
The memorandum had been secretly drafted by two Trump loyalists.
No one on the national security team knew, according to the book.
The memo was eventually overturned, but Milley couldn't forget that Trump had evaded his top military advisers.
Woodward and Costa write that, after January 6, Milley "had no absolute certainty that the military could control or trust Trump and believed that his job, as a senior military officer, was to think the unthinkable and take all necessary precautions. ".
Milley called it the "darkest moment of theoretical possibility," the authors write.
"Peril" is one of several books published this year that have documented the tumultuous final days of the Trump presidency.
In "I Alone Can Fix It," The Washington Post reporters Phil Rucker and Carol Leonnig detailed how Milley discussed a plan with joint chiefs to resist possible illegal orders from Trump amid fears that he or his allies might try. a coup.
"Smokescreen"
Woodward and Costa write that senior national security officials were concerned that Trump could create a "Wag the Dog" or "smokescreen," that is, provoke a conflict domestically or abroad to distract from his crushing loss. electoral.
When Trump refused to accept defeat in November 2020, Haspel warned Milley: "We are on the way to a right-wing coup. This is all crazy. He's acting like a six-year-old having a tantrum."
Haspel also worried that Trump would try to attack Iran.
"This is a highly dangerous situation. Are we going to lash out for his ego?" He asked Milley, according to the book.
President Donald Trump speaks in the Diplomatic Room of the White House on November 26, 2020. (Erin Schaff - Pool / Getty Images)
Even some of Trump's most loyal advisers privately voiced concerns after the election.
Then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Milley that Trump was "in a very dark place right now."
Milley had only one goal: to ensure a peaceful handover of power on January 20.
As he told Pompeo: "We have a plane with four engines and three of them are not working. We have no landing gear. But we are going to land this plane and we are going to do it safely."
"We're going to bury Biden on January 6."
"Peril" offers a behind-the-scenes account of Trump's refusal to concede the election and how those around him tried and failed to contain their despair.
On November 4, the day after the election, Trump appeared privately willing to concede defeat, asking his adviser Kellyanne Conway, "How the hell did we lose the vote to Joe Biden?"
But after making phone calls to his loyalists, including Rudy Giuliani, Trump embraced the false and damaging conspiracy theories of voter fraud.
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Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump took it lightly, the authors write, and Kushner told his advisers that he did not want to be the key person for an intervention.
Then-Attorney General William Barr tried to make Trump see reason, telling him that the fraud allegations were false.
"The problem is, this whole voting machine thing is bullshit," Barr said, according to the book.
"Your team is a bunch of clowns," he told Trump.
President Donald Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, speaks to his followers from La Elipse, near the White House, on January 6, 2021. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty Images)
According to the book, a key figure from Trump's early days as president has resurfaced: former White House adviser Steve Bannon.
The authors write that Bannon, who had been indicted in April 2020 and later pardoned by Trump, played a pivotal role in the events leading up to January 6.
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On December 30, Bannon convinced Trump to return to the White House from Mar-a-Lago to prepare for the events of January 6, the date on which Congress would certify the election results.
"You have to go back to Washington and make a dramatic comeback today," Bannon told Trump, according to the book.
"You have to get Pence back from the damn ski slopes and bring him back here today. This is a crisis."
The authors write that Bannon told Trump that January 6 was "the time for reckoning."
"People are going to say, 'What the hell is going on here?" Bannon believed.
"We're going to bury Biden on January 6, fuck it," Bannon said.
Trump to Pence: "I don't want to be your friend anymore"
"Peril" also describes the tense meeting in the Oval Office on January 5, when Trump pressured Pence to annul the election results.
As the confrontation raged inside, the two men could hear MAGA supporters cheering and chanting outside near Pennsylvania Avenue.
"If these people say you have the power, wouldn't you want to?"
Trump asked.
"I wouldn't want any person to have that authority," Pence said.
"But wouldn't it be almost cool to have that power?"
Trump asked, according to Woodward and Costa.
"No," Pence said.
He continued, "I've done everything I can and more to find a way around this. It's just not possible."
Hear what Pence said about Trump and the insurrection 0:47
When Pence didn't budge, Trump attacked him.
"No, no, no!" Trump yelled, according to the authors.
"You don't understand, Mike. You can do this. I don't want to be your friend anymore if you don't do this."
Trump called Pence again on the morning of January 6.
"If you don't, I picked the wrong man four years ago," Trump said, according to the authors.
"You're going to falter," he said, his anger visible to others in the office.
Although Pence ultimately faced Trump, "Peril" reveals that, after four years of abject loyalty, he struggled to make the decision.
Woodward and Costa write that Pence turned to Dan Quayle, who had been George HW Bush's vice president, for his advice.
Vice President Mike Pence speaks during a visit to Rock Springs Church to campaign for GOP Senate candidates on January 4, 2021 in Milner, Georgia.
(Megan Varner / Getty Images)
Over and over, Pence asked if there was anything he could do.
"Mike, you don't have any flexibility on this. None. Zero. Forget it. Put it aside," Quayle told him.
Pence pressed again.
"You don't know what position I'm in," he said, according to the authors.
"I do know the position you are in," Quayle replied.
"I also know what the law is. You listen to Parliament. That's all you do. You have no power."
"You should post a tweet"
According to the authors, Trump ignored repeated requests from both his staff and his daughter Ivanka Trump to withdraw the call for riots on Capitol Hill on January 6.
In one of the episodes, retired General Keith Kellogg, who was Pence's national security adviser, was in the White House with Trump as he watched the insurrection unfold on television.
Kellogg urged Trump to act.
Retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg, who advises Donald Trump on foreign policy and military affairs, speaks to the media in the lobby of Trump Tower on November 15, 2016 in New York.
(Drew Angerer / Getty Images)
"You really should tweet," Kellogg said, according to the authors.
"You have to tweet really fast, help control the crowd that's out there. This is out of control. They won't be able to control this. Sir, they're not prepared for it. Once a crowd starts turning like this , she's lost".
"Yes," Trump said.
The authors write: "Trump blinked and continued to watch television."
Ivanka Trump also repeatedly tried to intervene, speaking to her father three times.
"Let this go," she told him.
"Let him go," she told him, according to the book.
Fury 2.0
Woodward's previous book on Trump was called "Rage," but "Peril," full of expletive screams, takes the rage to a higher level.
Senior officials told the perpetrators that Trump's outbursts reminded them of "Full Metal Jacket" at times and "Doctor Strangelove" at other times.
In June 2020, following Black Lives Matter protests near the White House, Trump lashed out at then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who had just announced at a press conference that he opposed invoking the Insurrection Act in response. to the protests.
"You took away my authority!" Trump yelled at Esper in the Oval Office.
"You are not the president! I am the damn president."
But Trump wasn't done, according to the book, addressing the rest of his team in the room.
"Everybody's fucked up," he yelled.
"Everybody. You're all fucked up. Every one of you is fucked up."
Post-election, Trump's anger directed at Barr for daring to even mention the incoming Biden administration.
US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper (left), US President Donald Trump, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army Gen. Mark A. Milley (right), wait to meet with senior officials military personnel in the Cabinet Room of the White House in October 2019.
"First part of the Biden administration!"
yelled Trump, according to the authors.
Trump was so angry that Barr thought that 'if flames could come out of a human being's ears, that's what it would look like,' write Woodward and Costa.
The book also reveals that Trump remains angry at Republicans who blamed him for the insurrection, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
"This guy called me every day, pretended to be my best friend, and then he fucked me. He's not a good guy," Trump said, according to the book.
While McCarthy has retracted his initial remarks after the insurrection, Trump is quoted as dismissing McCarthy's attempts to make him like it again.
"Kevin came to kiss my *** and wants my help to get the House back," Trump said, according to the authors.
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The book ends with Trump's allies speculating on his plans for 2024. Privately, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham is quoted as saying that "if you want to be the candidate, you will have to deal with your personality issues ... we have a team captain. badly damaged. "
But in a conversation with Trump directly, Graham was much more optimistic.
"He was left for dead because of January 6. The conventional wisdom is that the Republican Party, under your leadership, has collapsed," Graham told Trump, according to the book.
Graham went on, telling Trump that if "you were to take the White House again, it would be the biggest comeback in American history."
ANALYSIS |
Trump has a "99,100" chance of running by 2024
In July, former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale, who had been demoted and then walked away from the campaign in September 2020, asked the question.
"Sir, are you running as a candidate?"
"I'm considering it ... I'm thinking firmly about running," Trump said, according to the book.
"He had an army. An army for Trump. He wants to get it back," Parscale later said.
"I don't think he sees it as a comeback. He sees it as revenge."
Donald trump