On January 6, demonstrators stormed the congress building in Washington – quite a few felt called upon by the US president to do so. The US chief of staff now writes in a book that he feared a coup attempt by Donald Trump.
In the last few months of Donald Trump’s presidency, US Chief of Staff Mark Milley, according to a new book, thought a coup attempt by Trump to maintain power was possible. He feared circumstances like before the Nazis came to power in Germany, write the “Washington Post” reporters Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker in their book. “I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump’s Catastrophic Final Year” (something like: Only I can fix it: Donald J. Trump’s catastrophic last year) is due to appear in the USA at the end of July. Excerpts have now been made public again in the US media.
“This is a moment in the Reichstag,” “the Fiihrer’s message of faith,” Milley said to confidants in the days before the Capitol was stormed on January 6th. Trump had repeatedly made allegations of alleged electoral fraud following his loss in the presidential election. With his remarks, Milley drew parallels with the Reichstag fire. The National Socialists used a fire caused by arson in the German parliament in 1933 to consolidate their dictatorship. A spokesman for Milleys initially did not comment on the reports, as the Washington Post wrote.
Resignation in case of “illegal” Trump orders
Milley had already discussed countermeasures with confidants, reported the CNN station, citing the book. For example, he and other military chiefs considered that one after the other would resign if they received orders from Trump that they judged to be illegal or dangerous. The book is reportedly based on interviews with over 140 people, including Trump himself and high-ranking officials in his administration. However, many interlocutors did not want to be named by name.
In an exceptional political statement, Milley had condemned the storming of the Capitol. In June 2020, however, he was criticized for his presence at a Trump photo opportunity after a highly controversial deployment against peaceful demonstrators. Trump’s government had the demonstration in front of the White House dissolved so that the president could pose in front of a church with a Bible. Milley had later said, “I shouldn’t have been there.”
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