Milley apologizes for appearing with Trump at St. John's Church visit

Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, apologized Thursday for appearing with President Trump after he cleared protesters outside of the White House so he could walk to nearby St. John's Episcopal Church and be photographed – calling his decision a "mistake." 

"As many of you saw, the result of the photograph of me at Lafayette Square last week," Milley said in a pre-recorded speech to graduates at the National Defense University. "That sparked a national debate about the role of the military in civil society. I should not have been there."

Trump has faced criticism for having National Park Service officers assertively clear the square and the rest of his and his White House team's path to the historic church, damaged in the protests following George Floyd's death.

"My presence in that moment and in that environment created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics," Milley also said. "As a commissioned uniformed officer, it was a mistake that I have learned from, and I sincerely hope we all can learn from it."