In 2021, former President Donald Trump claimed that General Mark Milley, who served as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Trump administration, recommended a U.S. strike on Iran. Trump made this claim during a conversation at his Bedminster golf club with biographers of his White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.

Trump’s claims were revealed during the Mar-a-Lago documents probe.

Milley, the highest-ranking officer in the U.S. military, denies that he ever recommended a strike on Iran, The Independent reports.

“I can assure you that not one time have I ever recommended to attack Iran,” Gen. Milley told CNN.

A transcript of that particular recording is now connected to the investigation into Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents after he exited the White House.

“As president, I could have declassified, but now I can’t,” Trump said, referring to the document that he claimed Milley prepared for him.

Trump was apparently in complain mode during the July 2021 meeting and annoyed over how Milley, according to a story in The New Yorker, instructed the Joint Chiefs to make certain the outgoing president didn’t give any illegal orders in the final days of his administration.

“I don’t know the document they’re talking about. I’ve never seen — no one’s presented me with what it is they’re talking about,” Milley told CNN. “So I really still can’t comment on it.”

“But I can assure you that, you know, a military attack on Iran is a very, very serious undertaking. We have capabilities. We have plans — that’s not particularly unusual — to comment on that. But I am not going to go further and discuss any of the details.”

Meadows, in his book The Chief’s Chief, seems to contradict this, writing that Milley pushed Trump to order an attack on Iran “more than once during his presidency.”

In an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, Milley said he never recommended an attack on Iran. “I can tell you with certainty that this chairman never recommended a wholesale attack on Iran,” he said.

“And to do that, I think would require a significant degree of risk that we may or may not want to take given the circumstances, but that that part of it didn’t happen.”

“And I’m not sure I don’t know the exact quotes that Mr. Meadows said, but I can assure you I know what I’ve done and it’s not to recommend an attack on Iran.”

The Hill reports that Trump appointed Milley to head the Joint Chiefs in 2018. The two men, however, disagreed on a number of issues, including the racial justice protests when Trump wanted to call in the military to quell the riots. The protests sparked an epic fight between Milley and Trump, who screamed at one point “You can’t f*cking talk to me like that!”

The Guardian, reprinting an excerpt of a book by the Wall Street Journal’s Michael Bender noted that Milley resisted Trump’s urges to “crack skulls” and “just shoot” protesters who were marching for racial justice after the murder of George Floyd at the hands of a White police officer in Minneapolis.

Bender writes that the exchange concerned who was actually in command at the time. Milley, according to Bender, told Trump he was an adviser but could not command the response.

“I said you’re in fucking charge!” Trump allegedly yelled.

“Well, I’m not in charge! Milley reportedly yelled back.

“You can’t f*cking talk to me like that!” Trump shouted.

I can’t tell from any of this whether Milley ordered the attack on Iran. It would certainly be an unwise move, and Milley seems to be rather cautious, especially in his response to the racial unrest. So I don’t know what happened, but I know Trump and Meadows have had a reputation for lying.

And that is really all I know at this point.

Well look at that, Trump lied AGAIN! And lying about Gen. Mark Milley, a man of integrity and honor. Sickening.

Trump can NEVER, EVER become president again! pic.twitter.com/MygKkLJAed

— Nicole Hickman James (@nicolejames) September 15, 2023