The top US general secretly called his Chinese counterpart twice during the presidency of Donald Trump, according to a Washington Post report on Tuesday.
US General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called General Li Zuocheng of the People’s Liberation Army on October 30th last year – and again on January 8th, two days after the storming of the US Capitol, over concerns then-President Donald Trump could spark a war with China, the newspaper reported.
The report draws on reporting from a new book “Peril,” by journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, based on interviews with over 200 sources.
It is due to be released next week.
Trump, in a statement, cast doubt in the story, calling it “fabricated.” He said if the story was true Milley should be tried for treason.
Milley’s office declined to comment.
Republican Senator Marco Rubio called on President Joe Biden, a Democrat, to immediately fire Milley.
The White House has declined to comment on the report.
The Washington Post reported that Milley was motivated to contact Beijing the second time in part due to a call with US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who had asked the general what safeguards were in place to prevent an “unstable president” from launching a nuclear strike.