Eight former Defense Secretaries issue a 'thinly veiled indictment' of Trump

Two of Donald Trump's former defense secretaries were among eight former Pentagon chiefs who signed an open letter warning of "an exceptionally challenging civil-military environment."

"The letter does not mention Mr. Trump by name. But in 16 points on the principles that are supposed to define civil-military relations, the signatories issued a thinly veiled indictment of Mr. Trump and the legions of his followers who called on the military to support his false claim that the election was stolen from him," The New York Times reported. "The letter reads like an American high school civics lesson. But in the six years since Mr. Trump entered the White House, the theme of the military’s duty to obey only legal orders has come up frequently. Mr. Trump’s tenure was a turbulent period for the Pentagon in which the president ordered American troops to the southwest border in a standoff against immigrants, riled up a crowd that stormed the Capitol and asked the military to deploy against protesters seeking racial justice."

Former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen said the open letter “is not pointed at Trump, but when you hear him talk about Hitler’s generals, well, that’s not who we are."

READ MORE: Ex-Pentagon chiefs warn of political interference in military

The book "The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021" by Peter Baker and Susan Glasser reported that Trump asked former general and White House chief of staff John Kelly why he could not have loyal generals like the "German generals in World War II."

The New York Times noted that current Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley had faced calls to resign after angering Trump.

"In the summer of 2020, for instance, Mr. Trump summoned General Milley to join him in a walk across a park near the White House where civilians protesting police brutality and racism had just been tear-gassed, so that the president could pose for a photo while holding a Bible," the newspaper reported. "The general apologized later, infuriating the president. General Milley also angered Mr. Trump by asking other senior generals to review routine procedures for launching nuclear weapons during the last days of the Trump administration."