Former President Donald Trump was talked out of ordering a strike against Iran in the final days of his presidency following the November 2020 election by his acting defence chief, who says in a new interview that he had to act like a “f****** madman” to prevent the attack.
ABC News’ Jonathan Karl writes in his book Betrayal, released on Tuesday, that acting Defence Secretary Christopher Miller explained his extreme mindset in the days and weeks after leaving the administration, as part of an attempt to dissuade the president’s immediate instincts.
That strategy centred around acting like the craziest person in the room, Mr Miller described, explaining that by taking more extreme positions than even the president, he managed to get Mr Trump to back off the idea.
“I would play the fucking madman,” Mr Miller says in Betrayal. “And everybody else would be like, ‘All right, he’s the new guy. He’s f****** insane. Don’t listen to him.’”
Mr Miller added: “I have found oftentimes with provocative people, if you get more provocative than them, they then have to dial it down. They’re like, ‘Yeah, I was f****** crazy,’ but that guy’s bats***.’”
