Trump Picks A Fight With The Navy, While Putin Can't Believe The Dividends This Whole Caper Has Paid Off

The New York Times, NBC News, Reuters and CNN all reported that Trump's Secretary of the Navy, Richard Spencer, and Collin Green, the admiral who heads the Navy SEALs had threatened to resign over Cadet Donald J. Bonespur's interference in the Edward Gallagher case. On Thursday Trump overrode Navy brass' decision to initiate a review that could result in Gallagher being stripped of his status as a SEAL. Trump's tweet challenged the decision.

Defense officials have previously told CNN that the Pentagon does not necessarily view tweets as orders and it is unclear if an official order has been received at this time.

Trump had already intervened in the case last week, reversing Gallagher's demotion for posing for a photo with the dead body of an ISIS casualty in Iraq. US defense officials told CNN that Trump took that action against the advice of senior Pentagon leaders, saying the move along with the President's decision to pardon two Army officers who had been convicted or charged with murder could undermine the military justice system.

About an hour prior to Trump's tweet, Gallagher's attorney, Timothy Parlatore, appeared on Fox News where he slammed the Navy's leadership, particularly Rear Adm. Collin Green, the commander of Naval Special Warfare Command who had ordered the review board.

"This is an action they could have taken any time from July right after the verdict until today, instead the Admiral decided President Trump takes action on a Friday afternoon, Monday morning the Admiral comes in, brings everybody together and says I disagree with the President, we're going to take his Trident," Parlatore told the host of Fox and Friends.

After news of the Navy's review of Gallagher's SEAL status broke Tuesday, Parlatore told CNN that Trump's decision to restore Gallagher's rank meant that any additional punishments would go against the President's intent.

"It's incredible that they still can't let this go," Parlatore said, adding that the Navy's leadership was choosing to "essentially ignore" Trump's decision.

"Whatever you think about this President, that's an extremely dangerous precedent to set," he said, latter calling on Trump to dismiss Green due to "insubordination."

Asked about Trump's tweet, Parlatore told CNN "obviously we're very grateful for it."

Parlatore told CNN that Trump's decision to restore Gallagher's rank meant that any additional punishments-- such as the review board-- were going against the President's intent.

He called Green's actions "out of bounds," saying that his ordering of the review "crossed a very dangerous line, having our uniformed flag officers being directly defiant of our Commander in Chief."

Parlatore said that he hopes that Green is held accountable for his actions and had previously called on Trump to dismiss Green due to "insubordination."

On Tuesday, the Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday made clear he supported Green. His spokesman, Cmdr. Nate Christensen, told CNN that Gilday "supports his commanders in executing their roles, to include Rear Adm. Green."

Gallagher had faced a court-martial for premeditated murder and attempted murder but was acquitted. "Given his service to our Nation, a promotion back to the rank and pay grade of Chief Petty Officer is justified," the White House said in a statement Friday.

CNN followed up Saturday to add that "Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley have raised serious concerns with the White House in the last 48 hours after President Donald Trump signaled he would block the Navy from ejecting Eddie Gallagher from the SEALs... As of Saturday afternoon, a review of Gallagher's status was expected to proceed. That review is considering whether he should be able to continue as a SEAL or be expelled, according to one defense official."

NBC's Courtney Kube and Carol E. Lee reported that "Military leaders hoping to keep the Secretary of the Navy from quitting lobbied President Donald Trump aboard Air Force One to stop intervening" in the Gallagher case." Although Spencer claims he never threatened to resign, "Four officials familiar with Spencer’s thinking say he is strongly considering resigning and will do so if Trump signs a written order to end the Navy probe. He conveyed those feelings to Pentagon leaders on Thursday. 'He is deeply, deeply upset by this and believes it undercuts his authority,' one former Navy official said, adding that it also undercuts Rear Adm. Collin Green, commander of the Navy’s Special Warfare Command, who ordered the review and is trying to maintain good order and discipline in the SEAL community. Several of the president’s senior advisers and military leaders weighed in after Thursday’s tweet, explaining the consequences of ordering a halt to the review board, say officials."

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley, Deputy Secretary of Defense David Norquist, Army Chief of Staff General McConville, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy, and Sgt. Major of the Army Michael Grinston spoke with the president about the process on Air Force One Thursday night, according to three U.S. officials familiar with the conversation.

The military leaders were with the president en route to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for the return of two U.S. soldiers killed in Afghanistan earlier this week.

They explained that the Trident Review Board is a peer review process and it’s best to let the process play out, the three officials said. The president did not know details of the process, the officials said, including how fellow sailors, usually Navy master chiefs, are the ones who make the recommendation.

The president also asked about the cases of former 1st Lt. Clint Lorance and Maj. Matthew Golsteyn. Earlier this month Trump dismissed murder charges against Golsteyn and pardoned Lorance, who was serving 19 years in federal prison for murder.

Trump inquired about restoring Golsteyn’s status as an Army Ranger and special forces soldier. The leaders explained how Trump wading in could impact morale among troops, said the three officials. They stressed that the conversation was not contentious. The military leaders explained the process to Trump, who listened and asked pointed questions, including asking flatly asking the group what he should do.

According to the officials, the leaders told him it was his decision as commander in chief, but they wanted him to understand the consequences.

At the White House Friday, other Trump administration officials echoed Gen. Milley’s advice about Gallagher’s review board, said officials. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper both explained that the president ordering a halt could have wider consequences.

Unless there is a written order, the Navy plans to move forward with the review process, the officials said. They do not expect Trump to issue that written order at this point, but concede he could change his mind.

As of this morning it looked like Trump backed down, rather than have a messy showdown with the military. This morning, the New York Times' Maggie Haberman reiterated that "The secretary of the Navy and the admiral who leads the SEALs have threatened to resign or be fired if plans to expel a commando from the elite unit in a war crimes case are halted by President Trump, administration officials said Saturday. 'The high-level pushback to Mr. Trump’s unambiguous assertion on Twitter this past week that the commando, Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher, should remain in the unit was an extraordinary development in what was already an extraordinary case, one with few precedents in the history of presidential relations with the American military. The Navy secretary, Richard V. Spencer, later denied that he had threatened to resign but said disciplinary plans against Chief Gallagher would proceed because he did not consider Mr. Trump’s statement on Twitter to be a formal order. Mr. Spencer added that the president, as commander in chief, had the authority to intervene and that it would stop 'the process.'" And then... late this afternoon, Trump struck and demanded the resignation-- through Defense Secretary Mark Esper-- of his own Navy Secretary. Trump immediately replaced him with the U.S. ambassador to Norway, Kenneth Braithwaite.