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Trump’s Day One: Mark Milley’s Portrait Removed from Pentagon Hallway

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10 months ago

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Culled from ABC News

Retired Gen. Mark Milley’s official portrait as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was taken down Monday afternoon from the Pentagon hallway where all of the paintings of the previous chairmen are located.

Two U.S. officials confirmed that the portrait of Milley, whom President Donald Trump suggested could be executed for treason on Truth Social in 2023, had been taken down from that hallway, and one of the officials said the whereabouts of the Milley portrait is currently unknown.

USAF/Sgt. Jack Sanders – PHOTO: Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III hosts the unveiling of former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Ret. U.S. Army Gen. Mark A. Milley’s portrait at the Pentagon, Washington, Jan. 10, 2025.

The portrait was unveiled on Friday, Jan. 10, at a ceremony in that hallway, with both Milley and then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin present. The portrait’s disappearance was first noted by reporters at the Pentagon who observed the empty space where the portrait hung just a few hours before. It is not clear why the portrait was removed from the hallway, but ABC News has reached out to the White House for comment.

Milley, who was preemptively pardoned on Monday by then-President Joe Biden as part of a last-minute slate of pardons, retired as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 2023. Appointed by Trump during is first administration in July 2018, Milley drew ire from Republican officials following the United States’ military withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

“My family and I are deeply grateful for the President’s action today,” he said. “After forty-three years of faithful service in uniform to our Nation, protecting and defending the Constitution, I do not wish to spend whatever remaining time the Lord grants me fighting those who unjustly might seek retribution for perceived slights. I do not want to put my family, my friends, and those with whom I served through the resulting distraction, expense, and anxiety.

“It has been an honor and a privilege to serve our great country in uniform for over four decades, and I will continue to keep faith and loyalty to our nation and Constitution until my dying breath,” Milley added.

At the time of his appointment, Trump called Milley a “great gentleman” and a “great soldier.”

However, their relationship began to sour in the summer of 2020, after Milley expressed regret for having accompanied Trump to St. John’s Episcopal Church in Washington hours after Lafayette Square was cleared by police and the National Guard of protesters. Months later, after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, Trump reportedly felt betrayed that Milley had called his Chinese counterpart , Gen. Li Zuocheng, to assure him the U.S. was “100 percent steady.”

In unscripted remarks in Emancipation Hall following his inaugural address on Monday, Trump questioned why Biden pardoned Milley, as well as former Rep. Liz Cheney and Dr. Anthony Fauci.

“Why are we doing this? Why are we trying to help a guy like Milley?” he said. “Why are we doing Milley? He was pardoned. What he said — terrible, what he said.”

Biden expressed concerns about political retribution in his defense of the slate of preemptive pardons.

“These are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing,” he said in a statement . “Baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families.

“That is why I am exercising my authority under the Constitution to pardon General Mark A. Milley, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the Members of Congress and staff who served on the Select Committee, and the U.S. Capitol and D.C. Metropolitan police officers who testified before the Select Committee,” he added. “The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense. Our nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless commitment to our country.”

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Bizarre Epstein files reference to Trump, Putin, and oral sex with ‘Bubba’ draws scrutiny in Congress

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1 week ago

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November 14, 2025

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The latest tranche of emails from the estate of late convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein includes one that contains what appear to be references to President Donald Trump allegedly performing oral sex, raising questions the committee cannot answer until the Department of Justice turns over records it has withheld, says U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee.

Garcia insists the Trump White House is helping block them.

In a Friday afternoon interview with The Advocate, the out California lawmaker responded to a 2018 exchange, which was included in the emails released, between Jeffrey Epstein and his brother, Mark Epstein. In that message, Mark wrote that because Jeffrey Epstein had said he was with former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, he should “ask him if Putin has the photos of Trump blowing Bubba.”

“Bubba” is a nickname former President Bill Clinton has been known by; however, the email does not clarify who Mark Epstein meant, and the context remains unclear.

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USDA head says ‘everyone’ on SNAP will now have to reapply

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1 week ago

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November 14, 2025

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Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins on Thursday said the Trump administration is planning to have all Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) beneficiaries reapply for the program due to alleged fraud.

The secretary said after receiving data on SNAP recipients from 29 red states that “186,000 deceased men and women and children in this country are receiving a check.”

“Can you imagine when we get our hands on the blue state data what we’re going to find?” she asked during a Thursday appearance on Newsmax’s “Rob Schmitt Tonight.”

“It’s going to give us a platform and a trajectory to fundamentally rebuild this program, have everyone reapply for their benefit, make sure that everyone that’s taking a taxpayer-funded benefit through SNAP or food stamps, that they literally are vulnerable, and they can’t survive without it,” she added.

Every state has a periodic recertification process that requires SNAP or food stamp recipients to update their whereabouts and earnings, according to the Department of Agriculture (USDA). Most municipalities require updated data every six to 12 months.

“Secretary Rollins wants to ensure the fraud, waste, and incessant abuse of SNAP ends,” a USDA spokesperson said in a statement to The Hill. “Rates of fraud were only previously assumed, and President Trump is doing something about it. Using standard recertification processes for households is a part of that work. As well as ongoing analysis of State data, further regulatory work, and improved collaboration with States. “

Earlier this month, food stamps were threatened amid the government shutdown as the Trump administration argued against using contingency funds to fuel the welfare program.

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Trump orders Bondi to investigate Epstein’s ties to Clinton and other political foes

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1 week ago

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November 14, 2025

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NEW YORK (AP) — Acceding to President Donald Trump’s demands, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Friday that she has ordered a top federal prosecutor to investigate sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s ties to Trump political foes, including former President Bill Clinton.

Bondi posted on X that she was assigning Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton to lead the probe, capping an eventful week in which congressional Republicans released nearly 23,000 pages of documents from Epstein’s estate and House Democrats seized on emails mentioning Trump.

Trump, who was friends with Epstein for years, didn’t explain what supposed crimes he wanted the Justice Department to investigate. None of the men he mentioned in a social media post demanding the probe has been accused of sexual misconduct by any of Epstein’s victims.

Hours before Bondi’s announcement, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that he would ask her, the Justice Department and the FBI to investigate Epstein’s “involvement and relationship” with Clinton and others, including former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and LinkedIn founder and Democratic donor Reid Hoffman.

Trump, calling the matter “the Epstein Hoax, involving Democrats, not Republicans,” said the investigation should also include financial giant JPMorgan Chase, which provided banking services to Epstein, and “many other people and institutions.”

“This is another Russia, Russia, Russia Scam, with all arrows pointing to the Democrats,” the Republican president wrote, referring to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of alleged Russian interference in Trump’s 2016 election victory over Bill Clinton’s wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Asked later Friday whether he should be ordering up such investigations, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One: “I’m the chief law enforcement officer of the country. I’m allowed to do it.”

In a July memo regarding the Epstein investigation, the FBI said, “We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.”

The president’s demand for an investigation — and Bondi’s quick acquiescence — is the latest example of the erosion of the Justice Department’s traditional independence from the White House since Trump took office.

It is also an extraordinary attempt at deflection. For decades, Trump himself has been scrutinized for his closeness to Epstein — though like the people he now wants investigated, he has not been accused of sexual misconduct by Epstein’s victims.

None of Trump’s proposed targets were accused of sex crimes

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