Top general feared Trump might launch nuclear war, new book says
CBSN
Before President Trump left office, the nation's top military officer feared Mr. Trump might create a crisis that would allow him to declare a national emergency and stay in power, despite losing the election. That fear prompted General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to make secret calls to his counterpart in China, according to a forthcoming book.
Milley was so worried Mr. Trump might start a war with China that he placed a secret call to his Chinese counterpart assuring him the U.S. had no intention of striking, according to the book "Peril" by Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Robert Costa.
"If we're going to attack, I'm going to call you ahead of time," the authors quote Milley as saying. He made a second call to China after the storming of the U.S. Capitol, saying, "We are 100% steady. Everything's fine."
