The Pentagon removed a portrait of General Mark Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, from its walls on Monday just hours after President Donald Trump was sworn into office.
Milley, who was appointed to the position by Trump in 2018 and retired under President Joe Biden last year, had his portrait unveiled and hung in the hallway alongside other former Joint Chiefs of Staff less than two weeks ago.
But roughly two hours after Trump was inaugurated, the White House ordered its removal, according to a New York Times report.
The Pentagon declined to comment to The Independent for this story.
Hours before his portrait was removed, Biden issued a preemptive pardon to Milley who became a target of Trump’s at the end of his first administration.
The relationship between Trump and Milley hit the rocks in mid-2020 when Milley apologized for being present for Trump’s photo-op at Lafayette Square during George Floyd protests. Months later, after Trump refused to concede the 2020 election, Milley expressed worry over Trump’s mental behavior and raised concern about a potential coup.
Milley accepted the offer to remain chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff when Biden took office in 2021.
Since then, Trump has fully turned his back on Milley, declaring him a “woke train wreck” and blaming him for the disastrous U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
Trump has also accused Milley of committing treason for conducting phone calls with China at the end of Trump’s first term and suggested the retired chairman could be executed for his actions.
Meanwhile, Milley has sounded alarms over Trump, calling him a “fascist” and “the most dangerous person” to the U.S.
Milley gratefully accepted Biden’s preemptive pardon saying he does not wish to spend, “whatever remaining time the Lord grants me fighting those who unjustly might seek retribution for perceived slights. “
“I do not want to put my family, my friends, and those with whom I served through the resulting distraction, expense, and anxiety,” Milley said in a statement.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is an apolitical position tasked with presiding over the Joint Chiefs of Staff, or the group of the most senior uniformed leaders within the Department of Defense.
