Changes: Portrait of Gen. Mark Milly Removed from Pentagon Shortly After Inauguration
Perhaps Milley is best remembered for allegedly telling his Chinese counterpart that he would alert him if Trump were to plan any surprise attacks.

Bada bing. Ten days ago, a new portrait of Gen. Mark Milley, the former Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was unveiled at the Pentagon. It was added to a collection of paintings of his predecessors in a Pentagon hallway.
However, less than two hours after President Donald Trump took his oath of office on Monday, it had vanished.
BREAKING: General Mark Milley's portrait has been removed from the Pentagon. It was just unveiled 10 days ago. pic.twitter.com/lkHgaTkiXg
— Mark Lucas (@lucasiowa) January 20, 2025
There’s no mystery. Neither Trump nor Milley have tried to hide their mutual disdain for each other.
Milley was first appointed to his lofty position in 2019 by Trump. The rift in their relationship began during the George Floyd riots in June 2020. Members of Black Lives Matter had tried, but fortunately failed, to burn down St. John’s Church in Washington, D.C.’s Lafayette Square. Trump, accompanied by several advisers and Cabinet members, famously walked to the church and was photographed as he held up a Bible. Milley was among that group.
The legacy media, which sympathized with and supported BLM, alleged that U.S. Park Police “violently” cleared a crowd of protesters from Lafayette Square solely for this photo-op. The event sparked a media frenzy.
[Note: One year later, the inspector general of the Interior Department released a report stating that the USPP had cleared the park to allow fencing to be installed “in response to destruction of property and injury to officers.” By then, however, the damage had already been done.]
Because military members are expected to remain apolitical and he had participated in a “political event,” Milley was filled with remorse. And, during a pre-recorded commencement address to the National Defense University graduating class, Milley apologized.
“As senior leaders, everything you do will be closely watched, and I am not immune, as many of you saw the result of that photograph of me at Lafayette Square last week,” he told the graduates.
“I should not have been there. My presence in that moment and in that environment created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics. As a commissioned, uniformed officer, it was a mistake that I have learned from and I sincerely hope we all can learn from it.”
Perhaps Milley is best remembered for allegedly telling his Chinese counterpart that he would alert him if Trump were to plan any surprise attacks.
"Gen. Milley needs to be called in TODAY and asked under polygraph what he said to China."
Sen. @RandPaul tells me why he believes Milley's alleged actions could have "caused an accidental war." pic.twitter.com/81YadLJbbv
— Glenn Beck (@glennbeck) September 15, 2021
Milley was never made to answer for this allegation. At best, his action could be viewed as disloyalty to his commander-in-chief. At worst, it could be considered treason.
Milley continued to serve in his role for nearly three more years during the Biden administration. Viewing the enemy of his enemy as a friend, former President Joe Biden included Milley on a list of individuals granted preemptive pardons just hours before his term ended on Monday.
And that, my friends, is likely why Milley’s portrait no longer hangs in the Pentagon hallway. And why it won’t be returning anytime soon.
Elizabeth writes commentary for The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation and a member of the Editorial Board at The Sixteenth Council, a London think tank. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.

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Comments
Court martial should still be in play
Covered by the pardon, unfortunately
Would love the TRAITOR be brought to justice
Does the pardon extend to infractions under the UCMJ?
Yes it mentions that specifically.
That’s a damned shame. Milley’s the kind of Blue Falcon that needs to be made an example of, pour encourager les outres.
Milley could be ordered to show up before a military tribunal or Congress and made to answer some very pointed questions. If he refuses he can be court martialed for either lack of candor or refusing a direct order to show up. Unlike civilians he has no choice in the matter.
I was about to ask the same thing.
Revoke his security clearances and rescind his pension and benefits.
his security clearance is in all likelihood gone … his pension
dont think they can touch that
since he has not be convicted of
anything and can not be convinced of anything since he
has been pardoned.
Sure they can. He can be activated and reduced in rank then dismissed from service. He would have to appeal to a Military Board to have his rank and/or retirement restored. Since the one doing the demotion would have to be within his chain of command, in other words, the one who promoted him that would be the President who has to sign off on the promotion to 4 star.
Maybe, maybe not but Milley can be recalled to active service and placed before Congress or a Military Tribunal and asked some very pointed questions. If he lies or is not candid he could be charged. Even if he is not he could receive the Non Judicial punishment of a reduction in rank and other than honorable discharge.
Apparently the pardon did not extend to Milly’s portrait.
Trump’s garbage truck came by a few minutes ago and picked it up. Reminds me of the Jason Statham movie, “I don’t collect garbage. I dispose of it.”
They should hang the picture in the men’s room…. inside the stalls, on the back of the door at eye level when you’re sitting on the toilet. They could mount the toilet paper roll holder on his mouth. That seems appropriate for this POS.
Speaking of portraits, Trump’s official portrait has been released.
His expression deliberately hearkens back to his booking photo.
It says, “Hey, Washington — remember that guy you tried to fuck over? He’s back.”
The flag in the background adds, “…and now the shoe is on the other foot.””
I’m tickled pink he remembered to “shout out” to his Beltway pals.
I like the old photo, where then-#45 was smiling. #47 has even more to smile about, now. As do all U.S. citizens and the citizens of the free world.
Should be called back to service and reduced to KP.
I agree but unfortunately an officer can only be reduced to the lowest officer rank which would be 2cd LT and then given a bad conduct or other than honorable discharge in this case I think it would be an Other one. He most certainly could be called before a Tribunal and if he lies or fails to answer any questions he could be charged for that and reduced in rank.
For such an arrogant guy, reading the press reports about the removal of his portrait has to smart. If Trump and Hegseth really want to send him a message, they will revoke his clearance and prevent him from lecturing at the Academies or National Defense University and serving on any 4-star panels.
Portrait of Gen. Mark Milly would make a great dart board.
I just wish it were septic safe.
Yeah. You don”t wanna lance that without eye protection.
The US military will never win a war as long as they led by generals like Miley, He reached his rank because promotions of officers in the US military depends on office politics and DEI. The top commanders act more like executives at a top US corporation than a professional military leader. . During WWII when generals, and admirals who were found to be ineffective were quickly removed. But the US military has not won a single war because, as seen in Vietnam and in the Gulf Wars, no top commander was removed despite their clear inadequacies. Tommy Franks was incompetent but was treated like another Patton. When the Army psychiatrist Nidal murdered 15 US Army service personnel, the first statement out of the mouth of the top US Army general was his concern about how DEI might suffer.
He can be recalled to active duty and reduced to his permanent rank of Colonel. Loss of pension and subject to UCMJ for willful disregard of lawful orders from the Commander in Chief. Want to get control of the military and return it to obedience to civilian authority? Go after these 3 and 4 star a$$hats who masquerade as Generals and Admirals.
I don’t think he has retired yet. His retirement could be placed on hold, he can be removed from his post and ordered to appear before Congress or a military board to answer. People need to remember than being reduced in rank is a non judicial punishment. That is not covered by any pardon for potential crimes.
Thanks. Your answer (that being reduced in rank can be for reasons other than UCMJ violations) is the key.
Recall him to active service and put the hot lights on him. If he lies or is less than candid, it’s post-pardon conduct and he can be barbequed. If he admits calling his Chinese counterpart as Woodward reported, then his reputation is forever gone.
But if he can, as you suggest, be busted in rank without having to convene a UCMJ court martial, they need to do it, ASAP.
In a sander and more rational time, the subversive, treasonous and insubordinate narcissist-reprobate, “I want to learn about ‘white rage’ ” Milley, would have been strung up by his nuts, posthaste, the minute that he had boasted about undermining/sabotaging his boss/Commander-in-Chief by dragging out the Syria withdrawal — contrary to POTUS’s orders — and, assuring his Chinese communist counterpart (without POTUS’s knowledge) that he would give him advance warning of any impending U.S. attack.
Milley is a traitor and a disgrace.
“In a *saner* and more rational time…”
I like to think of Milley being subjected to a very large belt sander.
Does he still want to learn about white rage?
Because operators are standing by now!
It isn’t enough to remove his portrait, to clean house all of the officers that he sponsored to be GOs (look and see which field grade officers he rated or senior rated who are now GOs or close to it) need to be asked to retire.
The officers don’t need to be asked to retire. There can be a reduction in force and the officers can be forced to retire.
“At best, his action could be viewed as disloyalty to his commander-in-chief. At worst, it could be considered treason.”
I’m unclear as to how anyone can be ‘preemptively pardoned’ for treason against their country.
What about murder? Espionage? Rape?
Does a potus really have plenary power in these regards?
Yes, the pardon power is plenary. That is not even slightly controversial.
And historically many presidential pardons have been issued for treason. Blanket preemptive pardons, even. Washington pardoned the Whiskey rebels, and Johnson pardoned Confederate soldiers.
“A full and unconditional pardon for any offenses” is NOT a pardon, as defined in the Constitution. The word “pardon” in the Constitution refers to specific and limited application, detailing the situation, crime, or conviction. It is not some insane open-ended grant of complete G-d-like authority to the President to declare anyone off limits to any and all laws. That is just insane.
You have to say what you are pardoning. You cannot say “I pardon you for anything and everything”. That is a sweeping collection of infinite pardons, all wrapped up in a bogus finite sentence. That is not legal. This is just part of the retarded linguistic destruction that the left carries out in its drive to destroy all meaning in language and, thus, to destroy society.
If Biden wants to issue Milley pardons against 10 different crimes then he has to detail them, describe the crimes and excuse the traitor for them. But he is not allowed to say … “Well … whatever you might have done, I have no idea … but whatever it is you’re free as a bird. Because.”
No. That is not what the Constitutional “pardon” is and not what the Constitutional pardon power allows.
These so-called pardons are void and Traitor Joe is an accessory after the fact, at the very least, for every crime he has tried to force America to submit to with his bogus “pardons”.
Succinctly:
A meta-pardon is NOT a pardon
I don’t think so, either. I’d like the new DOJ to challenge this before SCOTUS. In my view it’s just another lawless act this administration was famous for trying then having courts reverse it.
That is all a load of utter bullshit that you made up. It has no basis in the text, the history, or anything else. You simply want something to be one way so you are pretending it is.
Ex Parte Garland
People need to remember that Milley is not retired yet and you can’t just say “I’m good” then walk away from the military. All retirements must be approved or “signed off on”. There is no guarantee that will happen and it shouldn’t. He should be dragged before a tribunal or Congress and made to answer some questions. Unlike a civilian he couldn’t fight it or plead the 5th, he can be ordered to appear and if he doesn’t he would be immediately stripped of rank. He might not be able to be charged for what he did during Biden’s lawless reign of terror but that doesn’t mean he can’t be charged for everything going forward. The military is a far different animal than civilian life.
True justice demands that the portrait of Milley be replaced by one painted by Hunter Biden.
In Hunter’s “poop style”.
It would have been funny to have moved Milley’s portrait to a men’s bathroom, somewhere in the Pentagon.
Some paintings belong in The Louvre, but this one belongs in the loo.
TAKE HIS SECURITY CLEARANCE
milley was awful. any wonder biden kept him on?
Because Milley’s brazen and lawless anti-Trump subversion and insubordination during #45’s term endeared him to Dhimmi-crats and the leftist media organs.
LOL, sorry; your question is obviously rhetorical and needs no response.
Fifth Columnist Mark Milley.
It was for the best that they took the portrait out when they did.
Even in the first ten days, the subtle morphing was becoming obvious.
I don’t get all the histrionics. Milley retired more than a year ago, and was confirmed by Congress in his 4-star paygrade (all retirements at 3- & 4-star rank must be confirmed by Congress). That ship is no longer along the quay.
Similarly, there is no treason without a war…by definition. Just as January 6th was not an insurrection (because a small, basically unarmed group cannot possibly conduct an insurrection–at most, it could conduct a few assassinations), we are not at war (we just have a small number of troops deployed in unfriendly places).
There’s enough real work to do that we should ignore the clickbait distracting us toward useless emotionalism. Get to work, people–making America great again is up to US; Trump can encourage an lead, but he’s only one man and we have to do the real work.
Last I heard, we are at war. Congress has passed authorizations for the use of military force, which are still in effect. That makes us at war.
Nor does treason require a state of war. Iran is an enemy of the USA, just as the USSR was during the Cold War, even without an actual state of war between us.