The Pentagon took down a recently unveiled portrait of retired Gen. Mark Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who notoriously butted heads with President Donald Trump following his 2020 election defeat.
The portrait of Milley, who served as the 20th chairman of the joint staff from 2019-2023, was unveiled earlier this month. Trump nominated Milley, but their relationship soured until the end of Trump’s first term.
As of mid-afternoon Monday, just hours after Trump was inaugurated for his second term in the White House, the painting was no longer in the spot it was unveiled in, along a hallway in the Pentagon.
Hours earlier, in one of former President Joe Biden‘s final acts, he issued a preemptive pardon to Milley and several other officials, against whom Trump and his team had threatened to pursue prosecution.
“My family and I are deeply grateful for the President’s action today,” Milley said in a statement to USA Today provided by a spokesperson. “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.”
Biden, in announcing the pardons, said, “Our nation relies on dedicated, selfless public servants every day. They are the lifeblood of our democracy,” adding, “Yet alarmingly, public servants have been subjected to ongoing threats and intimidation for faithfully discharging their duties.”
Milley and Trump’s relationship has deteriorated over the last couple of years.
One part of their dispute emerged after the former chairman acknowledged that he spoke to his Chinese counterpart twice after Trump lost the 2020 election to ensure there were no miscommunications between superpowers. The move led Trump and other Republicans to accuse Milley of treason. Milly maintains the calls were no different than any of his other communications with foreign defense leaders.
In September 2023, days before Milley retired, Trump referenced the calls and said, “This is an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been death! A war between China and the United States could have been the result of this treasonous act.”
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In Milley’s farewell retirement speech, he implicitly derided Trump but didn’t name him directly.
“We are unique among the world’s armies,” Milley said. “We are unique among the world’s militaries. We don’t take an oath to a country. We don’t take an oath to a tribe. We don’t take an oath to a religion. We don’t take an oath to a king, or queen, or tyrant or dictator. We don’t take an oath to a wannabe dictator. We don’t take an oath to an individual. We take an oath to the Constitution.”