Former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried to persuade former US president Donald Trump to carry out a military strike on Iran, according to Susan B. Glasser of The New Yorker in a report released on Thursday.
General Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, urged against the Iran strike, warning Trump that, “if you do this, you’re gonna have a f***ing war," according to the report.
This came months after Trump lost the 2020 election, with him allegedly desperate to stay in power. Milley, who has previously warned about Israeli-Palestinian escalations having large-scale consequences, believed that Trump did not actually want a war, but kept pushing for a missile strike in response to various provocations, including from Netanyahu, according to The New Yorker."Trump had a circle of Iran hawks around him and was close with the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who was also urging the Administration to act against Iran after it was clear that Trump had lost the election," the report noted.
Like Netanyahu, Trump's secretary of state Mike Pompeo and vice president Mike Pence also reportedly pushed for action against Iran, Pence saying it was "because they are evil."
Netanyahu and Trump held a longstanding relationship while they were in office, frequently agreeing on issues surrounding Iran.
On January 3, after his Christmas vacation, Trump convened a meeting in the Oval Office about Iran, asking his advisers about recent reports on Tehran's nuclear activity. He was told it was not possible to do anything militarily, considering the costs and consequences.The president eventually agreed to let go of the idea, according to the report.
Trump slammed Milley on Thursday after allegations in a new book that senior uniformed military leaders were deeply concerned about the potential for a coup after the November election and had discussed a plan to resign.
According to excerpts obtained by CNN from the upcoming book I Alone Can Fix It, written by two Washington Post journalists, Milley and other senior US military leaders discussed resigning in the event they received orders they considered illegal or dangerous.
"I never threatened, or spoke about – to anyone – a coup of our government," Trump said in a statement. "If I was going to do a coup, one of the last people I would want to do it with is General Mark Milley."
US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, had privately acknowledged concerns that Trump might attempt to draw in the military to quash dissent, as fears about Trump's potential misuse of the Insurrection Act mounted.
A planned, orderly resignation by the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff had not been previously reported.