Milley, in an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, flat-out rejected Trump’s claim on Iran.
“I can assure you that not one time have I ever recommended to attack Iran,” Milley said.
The nation’s highest-ranking military officer was referring to comments Trump made in a 2021 audio tape at his Bedminster, N.J., club.
In the audio, Trump said he had a classified document proving his side of the story — that Milley told him to attack Iran during his administration.
He was apparently trying to refute a New Yorker article detailing how Milley moved to prevent Trump from attacking Iran in the final days of his administration.
That audio is a major part of a federal special counsel investigation, which charged the former president earlier this year with more than 30 counts related to illegally retaining classified documents.
The Milley-Trump feud has a long history.
Trump tapped the general to be the Joint Chiefs chairman in 2018. But they diverged on multiple issues, including the 2020 racial justice protests when Trump wanted to use the military to quell the rioting.
Trump’s former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, has backed his former boss in the Iran case, claiming Milley recommended an attack on Iran more than once.
In the CNN interview, Milley said he can speak “with certainty that this chairman never recommended a wholesale attack on Iran.”
“I can assure you I know what I’ve done and it’s not to recommend an attack on Iran,” he said.
