Gen. Mark Milley, the nation's top military officer, expressed his regret on Thursday for walking with President Donald Trump across Lafayette Square for a photo op after authorities forcefully cleared the area of protesters, calling the appearance a "mistake."
"I should not have been there," said Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in a video commencement address to National Defense University. "As a commissioned uniformed officer, it was a mistake that I have learned from, and I sincerely hope we all can learn from it."
The remarks were first reported by The New York Times. POLITICO obtained a partial transcript of the address.
The June 1 images of Milley walking the streets of D.C. in his combat uniform prompted outrage from current and retired officials, and many accused Pentagon leaders of allowing the military to be used as a political prop by the Trump administration.
Trump had just announced to reporters that if states do not call up the National Guard to handle civil unrest following the killing of George Floyd, he would deploy active-duty troops to those cities.
After the remarks, U.S. Park Police forcefully removed protesters from Lafayette Square, allowing Trump, Milley, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and other top officials to walk across the area to St. John's Episcopal Church, which had been damaged by fire. Trump posed for cameras holding a bible, then Esper joined other officials in a group photo as Milley stood to the side. Esper later told reporters that he didn't know he was heading for a photo op.
Milley acknowledged to the NDU graduates that his presence at the photo op inappropriately politicized the military.
"That sparked a national debate about the role of the military in civil society," Milley said. "My presence in that moment and in that environment created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics."
"We who wear the cloth of our nation come from the people of our nation, and we must hold dear the principle of an apolitical military that is so deeply rooted in the very essence of our republic," he said.
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June 11, 2020 at 09:35PM
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'I should not have been there:' Top U.S. general regrets Trump photo op - POLITICO
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