Pentagon removes portrait of General Milley, two hours after Trump assumes the Oval Office

Two hours after US President Donald Trump took the oath to office, the Pentagon removed a portrait of Gen. Mark A. Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, from a corridor of the building filled with paintings of all of his predecessors. According to The New York Times, the decision to remove the portrait was reportedly taken by the new administration because of Milley’s animosity with US President Donald Trump.

It is pertinent to note that the portrait of General Millye went up last week during the final days of then-US President Joe Biden.

While speaking to the New York Times, a US official confirmed that the portrait was being removed on the orders of the White House. In the past, Trump has referred to Milley with several names, including calling him a “woke train wreck.”

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Trump’s disdain for Milley

Trump had complained about the general’s calls to his Chinese counterpart during the waning weeks of his first term. In a post on TruthSocial he referred to the act as “so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH!” The POTUS often referred to Milley as “slow-moving and moron”.

Hours before Trump’s inauguration, former US President Joe Biden preemptively pardoned Milley along with Trump’s other potential targets like Dr. Anthony Fauci and lawmakers who served on the January 6 committee. “Our nation relies on dedicated, selfless public servants every day. They are the lifeblood of our democracy,” Biden said in a statement on Monday.

“Yet alarmingly, public servants have been subjected to ongoing threats and intimidation for faithfully discharging their duties,” he added. Reacting to the pardons, Trump called Biden’s action “disgraceful”. “Many are guilty of MAJOR CRIMES!” he told the NBC News.

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Meanwhile, Milley expressed gratitude to the former president. “My family and I are deeply grateful for the President’s action today,” he said. “After forty-three years of faithful service in uniform to our Nation, protecting and defending the Constitution, I do 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.”

“It has been an honour and a privilege to serve our great country in uniform for over four decades, and I will continue to keep faith and loyalty to our nation and Constitution until my dying breath,” Milley furthered. The former joint chief of staff has been often targeted by Republicans over the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.

With inputs from agencies.