Navy Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher celebrates after being acquitted of premeditated murder at Naval Base San Diego July 2, 2019 in San Diego, California.
Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images
President Donald Trump is reportedly standing down. Rather than risk a fight with top military leaders, the White House allegedly told the Navy that it will not intervene in a disciplinary hearing that could end up ousting Chief Petty Officer Eddie Gallagher from the SEALs. Trump tweeted on Thursday that he would not let the Navy remove Gallagher from the SEALs, but the White House later said it could proceed as planned. Of course this being Trump there are no guarantees that the president won’t ultimately decide to get involved but for now the simmering tensions between the White House and the Navy appear to have been diffused.
The news that the Navy was moving forward with the disciplinary proceeding came a day after the New York Times reported Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer and the Navy SEALs’ leading admiral Collin Green threatened to resign if Trump got involved to stop Gallagher from being expelled from the elite unit. Spencer denied to reporters that he had threatened to resign. But he also said that if Trump wanted to stop the disciplinary proceedings against Gallagher he would need to issue a formal order and a tweet doesn’t count. “I don’t interpret them as a formal order,” Spencer said of Trump’s tweets.
Even if Trump is allowing the review to move forward he is not suddenly staying quiet on Gallagher’s case. On Sunday morning he touted Gallagher’s appearance on Fox News and vowed that “all will end well for everyone!” In the interview, Gallagher said he would present evidence to show how Spencer was “meddling in my case and trying to get organizations not to support me.” Gallagher said he’s suffering from retaliation from military leaders. “This is all about ego and retaliation, this has nothing to do with good order or discipline. They could have taken my trident at any time they wanted. Now they’re trying to take it after the president restored my rank,” Gallagher said. Gallagher had been accused of shooting civilians and murdering a teenage prisoner in Iraq, among other crimes. He was ultimately acquitted of most of the more serious charges although he was conceited for posing next to the body of a dead ISIS fighter.
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