Fearing Donald Trump would start war, top general called China, new book says
- Joint Chiefs of Staff head Mark Milley promised he would warn Chinese counterpart in the event of a US strike, Bob Woodward and Robert Costa write in ‘Peril’
- Two calls were made – one days before Trump’s election loss and another soon after the president’s supporters stormed the US Capitol
Fearful of Donald Trump’s actions in his final weeks as president, the United States’ top military officer twice assured his Chinese counterpart that the two nations would not go to war, according to a forthcoming book.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley told General Li Zuocheng of the People’s Liberation Army that the United States would not strike. One call took place on October 30, 2020, four days before the election that defeated Trump. The second call was on January 8, 2021, just two days after the insurrection at the US Capitol by supporters of the outgoing chief executive.
Milley went so far as to promise Li that he would warn his counterpart in the event of a US attack, according to the book Peril, written by Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa.
“General Li, I want to assure you that the American government is stable and everything is going to be OK,” Milley told him in the first call, according to the book. “We are not going to attack or conduct any kinetic operations against you.”
“If we’re going to attack, I’m going to call you ahead of time. It’s not going to be a surprise,” Milley reportedly said.