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By Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A day after President Donald Trump accused top U.S. military officials of wanting to fight wars to keep arms manufacturers happy, the Army’s top general said Tuesday that forces leaders Navies would recommend sending troops into combat only when it is in the US national security interests or as a last resort.
When asked about Trump’s criticism of Pentagon leaders on Monday, US Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville declined to comment directly on the matter, saying the military should stay out of it. politics, especially around an election.
“Many of these leaders have sons and daughters who serve in the military, many of these leaders have sons and daughters who have gone to combat or may be in combat right now,” said McConville, whom Trump appointed to his position, during an online conference. forum hosted by Defense One, a media organization focused on the US military.
“I can assure the American people that senior leaders would only recommend sending our troops into combat when required by national security and ultimately. We take this very, very seriously in the way that we make our recommendations,” added McConville.
Trump has increasingly clashed with Pentagon leaders over a variety of issues after initially awarding retired generals to senior positions in his administration.
Trump seeks re-election on November 3, facing Democratic candidate Joe Biden.
At a press conference at the White House on Monday, Trump criticized Biden, describing him as an advocate of “wars without end”, before directing his criticism towards the military leaders he named, saying they are interested in him. conflict to satisfy military contractors.
“I’m not saying the military is in love with me. The soldiers are. The most important people in the Pentagon probably aren’t because they don’t want to do anything but fight wars so that all those wonderful companies that make the bombs, the planes, they make everything else happy, “Trump said.
“But we are coming out of endless wars,” Trump added. “Some people don’t like to go home. Some people like to keep spending money. One ruthless globalist betrayal after another, that’s what it was.”
Such criticism of military leaders by a sitting president is highly unusual.
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said Tuesday that Trump’s comments were not directed at Defense Secretary Mark Esper, Army General Mark Milley, who serves as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, or at other military leaders.
“That comment was more direct about the military industrial complex,” Meadows said on Fox News, using a term that refers to the US military and defense industry.
Meadows did not mention any names or explain specifically who Trump was referring to when the president referred to “the most important people in the Pentagon.” Trump appointed both Esper and Milley to their current positions.
Trump’s comments followed media reports last week that he had called downed US troops buried in Europe “losers” and refused to visit an American cemetery in France in 2018 because he thought it was not important. Trump has denied the reports.
Areas of disagreement between the Republican president and Pentagon leaders have included Trump’s threats to deploy active duty troops in response to a wave of protests against racism and police brutality, a step that Esper and Milley opposed.
Milley, the top US military officer, also said in June that he made a “mistake” when he joined Trump as the president walked from the White House to a nearby church and held up a copy of the Bible to take a picture after that the authorities cleared. protesters using chemical irritants and rubber bullets.
Trump has faced harsh criticism in recent months from senior retired military leaders, including retired Gen. James Mattis, the U.S. Secretary of Defense for Trump’s first two years in office, who accused his former boss of trying to divide Americans.
(Information from Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart; additional information from Doina Chiacu; edited by Franklin Paul and Will Dunham)
