Top US military officer apologizes for role in photo op with Trump outside church

AFP

Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Thursday that he has regretted his role in US President Donald Trump's photo opportunity outside a church near the White House last week.

"I should not have been there," Milley said in a recorded message for a commencement ceremony at the National Defense University in Washington DC. "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," the nation's top military officer said. "And I sincerely hope we all can learn from it."

Last week, Milley was photographed in uniform walking with Trump to St John's Episcopal Church, which had been damaged by a fire, amid nationwide demonstrations against George Floyd's death in police custody.

After federal law enforcement and National Guardsmen cleared protesters from the area, Trump stood in front of the church, holding up a Bible, and had several photos taken before returning to the White House.

Besides Milley, Defense Secretary Mark Esper, Attorney General William Barr, and a group of White House officials accompanied Trump to the church.

The episode drew criticism from a number of former military officials, including James Mattis, the Trump administration's first secretary of defense, who called it "a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside."

In response, Trump has lashed out at Mattis, calling him the "world's most overrated general" and suggesting he was ineffective at his job.