Mark Milley thought Stephen Miller was 'a Rasputin character, always whispering devilish ideas in the king's ear,' new book says

<p><img src="https://static6.businessinsider.com/image/60f8d9d1fc253600181fbcc2-1016/img stitch.png" border="0" alt="stephen miller mark milley" data-mce-source="Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images; Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images" data-mce-caption="According to a new book, there was tension between Trump adviser Stephen Miller (left) and Gen. Mark Milley (right) that exploded during a meeting on how to handle the George Floyd protests."></p><p></p><bi-shortcode id="summary-shortcode" data-type="summary-shortcode" class="mceNonEditable" contenteditable="false">Summary List Placement</bi-shortcode><p>Gen. Mark Milley thought of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-stephen-miller-trump-speechwriter-immigration-adviser-2018-1">Trump advisor Stephen Miller</a> as "a Rasputin character, always whispering devilish ideas in the king's ear," according to a new book about the last days of the Trump administration.</p><p>According to an excerpt from <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Alone-Can-Fix-Donald-Catastrophic/dp/0593298942">"I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year"</a> by Washington Post journalists Carol Leonnig and Phillip Rucker, Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, confided in aides about his strong feelings regarding Miller.&nbsp;</p><p>Milley likened Miller to the villainous <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/murder-rasputin-100-years-later-180961572/">Grigori Rasputin</a>, an influential Russian political figure also called the "Mad Monk," who held significant influence over <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/nicholas_ii.shtml">the last Tsar, Nicholas II</a>, and his family. The self-professed holy man was later <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38469903" target="_blank" rel="noopener">murdered by aristocrats</a>.&nbsp;</p><p>According to&nbsp; Leonnig and Rucker, this tension between Milley and Miller, who was then senior adviser for policy and the White House director for speechwriting, came to the fore during the <a href="https://www.insider.com/george-floyd-death-15-powerful-images-of-nationwide-protests-2020-5">George Floyd protests last summer</a>.</p><p>The book details a tense exchange between the two men, highlighting how Milley was particularly aggravated when Miller asked Trump to use armed troops to quell the protests.&nbsp;</p><p>"Mr. President, you have to show strength. They're burning the country down," the book claims Miller said during a meeting with the former president.&nbsp;</p><p>Per the book, it was at that point that Milley "whipped his head around" and castigated Miller, saying: "Stephen, shut the f--- up. They're not burning the f---ing country down."&nbsp;</p><p>The book further claims that throughout this exchange, Trump watched the two "silently and eagerly, as if the argument between his advisers were a pay-per-view fight on HBO."</p><p>The office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Miller did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.</p><p>Trump denied he ever discussed deploying the military during the 2020 George Floyd protests with Milley in a <a href="https://www.donaldjtrump.com/news/statement-by-donald-j-trump-45th-president-of-the-united-states-of-america-7161254">statement</a> released on July 16.&nbsp;</p><p>"Despite the fact that the 2020 Presidential Election was Rigged and Stolen, and while numerous people, including the outside public, were saying we should bring in the Military, I never even gave it a thought," Trump wrote in the statement.</p><p>"Never once did I have a discussion with him about bringing in the Military, or a 'coup,'" Trump added.&nbsp;</p><p>Trump has also hit out at Milley on a separate issue. On July 15, Trump released a <a href="https://twitter.com/davidshepardson/status/1415700943291756548's=20">long statement</a> responding to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-says-hes-not-into-coups-gen-mark-milley-response-2021-7">claims that Milley was worried that he would plan a coup</a> to overthrow the government. Writing that he's "not into coups," Trump added that even if he was, he "wouldn't want to commit one with Gen. Mark Milley."</p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mark-milley-thought-stephen-miller-was-a-rasputin-character-2021-7#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-everyone-hates-moist-2018-5">Why 'moist' is one of the most hated words in the English language</a></p>
Click here to read full news..