The official portrait of retired General Mark Milley as the United States President was unveiled Monday afternoon in the Pentagon corridor that houses all the paintings of past presidents.
Two US officials confirmed Milley’s portrayal of President Donald Trump suggests that he could be executed for treason At Truth Social in 2023, it was taken down that aisle, and one of the officials said that the whereabouts of Milley’s portrait are unknown.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III hosts a presentation by former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Ret. A portrait of US Army General Mark A. Milley at the Pentagon in Washington on January 10, 2025.
USAF/Sgt. Jack Sanders
The portrait was unveiled on Friday, January 10, at a ceremony in that corridor, with Milley and then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in attendance. The disappearance of the portrait Pentagon reporters had first seen the empty space where the portrait had hung a few hours earlier. It’s unclear why the portrait was removed from the hallway, but ABC News has reached out to the White House for comment.
Milley, who was it? preemptively forgiven on Monday as part of a last-minute pardon by then-President Joe Biden, he stepped down as President of the United States in 2023. Appointed by Trump in his first administration in July 2018, Milley drew the ire of Republican officials. In 2021, the United States withdrew its military from Afghanistan.
“My family and I are grateful for the president’s action today,” he said. “After forty-three years of loyal service to our Nation in uniform, protecting and defending the Constitution, I do not want to take the time the Lord gives me to unjustly fight those who may seek retribution for perceived wrongs. I do not want to put my family, my friends and those I served with distraction, expense and anxiety.
“It has been an honor and a privilege to serve our great country in uniform for more than four decades, and I will continue to maintain faith and loyalty to our nation and Constitution until my last breath,” added Milley.
In his appointment, Trump called Milley “great lord” and “great soldier”.
However, their relationship began to sour in the summer of 2020, after Milley expressed regret for accompanying Trump to St. John’s Episcopal Church in Washington hours after Lafayette Square Police and the National Guard cleared protesters. A month later, after the January 6 Capitol riots, Milley reportedly felt betrayed by Trump. his Chinese counterpart called himGeneral Li Zuocheng, to make sure it was US “100 percent fixed.”
President Donald Trump speaks to people in the overflow VIP viewing area of Emancipation Hall after being sworn in as the 47th president of the United States on Jan. 20, 2025 at the U.S. Capitol.
Bill Clark/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
In unscripted remarks after his inaugural address Monday at Emancipation Hall, Trump questioned why Biden pardoned Milley, as well as former Rep. Liz Cheney and Dr. Anthony Fauci.
“Why are we doing this? Why are we trying to help a guy like Milley?” he said “Why are we talking Milley? They forgave him. What he said – terrible, what he said.”
Biden expressed concern about political payback in defense of the list of preventive pardons.
“These are exceptional circumstances, and I can’t do anything in good conscience,” he said he said in a statement. “Baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety and financial security of targeted individuals and their families.
“Therefore, I am using my authority under the Constitution to pardon General Mark A. Milley, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, members of Congress and staff members of the Select Committee, and officers from the US Capitol and the DC Metropolitan Police. They testified before the Select Committee,” he added. “The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an admission by any person of any wrongdoing, nor should the admission be misconstrued as guilt of any crime. our country.”
