- Christopher Miller became acting defense secretary just as Trump was contemplating attacking Iran.
- Miller purposefully took on the role of "fucking madman" to prevent Trump from following through, according to a new book.
- Miller said his main goals were "no military coup, no major war, and no troops in the streets."
Christopher Miller, who became acting secretary of defense following the firing of Mark Esper, sought to dissuade former President Donald Trump from attacking Iran by acting like a "fucking madman" and walking Trump through just how destructive such an attack would be.
That's according to ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl's forthcoming book, "Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show," a copy of which was obtained by Insider in advance of its Tuesday release.
According to Karl, Miller came into the job with the modest goals of "no military coup, no major war, and no troops in the streets," echoing concerns that Esper also had before his firing.
Miller's containment strategy unfolded in an Oval Office meeting with the former president on November 12 alongside Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley, National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
A new report from the International Atomic Energy Agency had shown that Iran had dramatically increased its stockpile of enriched uranium and could produce enough weapons-grade uranium for 2 bombs within just 6 months, and Trump and his team were discussing how to respond.
At one point, per Karl's book, Trump turned to Miller and asked if the Iranian nuclear program could be taken out with strikes.
"Yes, Mr. President," replied Miller. "We can absolutely do that."
Miller went on to detail a plan involving more than 100 manned Air Force and Marine aircraft flying into Iran, warning Trump that the Islamic Republic has sophisticated air-defense systems.
"We're probably going to lose some planes," he said. "It's just the nature of the business. You'll probably see some three, four, or six planes shot down. I just want to make sure you are comfortable with that."
The pair got more into the details of how such an attack would transpire, including the logistics of refueling and take-off locations.
"Boeing? Boeing handles the air-to-air refueling?" Trump asked at one point. "They can't build shit anymore."
The episode was apparently alarming for Pompeo — who was otherwise one of the biggest Iran hawks in the Trump administration — prompting him to rebut Miller during the meeting and declare that such a strike would be a mistake, potentially leading to a larger war in the region. According to the book, Pompeo later called Attorney General Bill Barr to express his concerns with the Pentagon's new leadership, fearing they could drive Trump to start a war with Iran.
But for Miller, it was all a giant exercise in reverse psychology. He didn't want to attack Iran, and he told Karl that if Trump could see exactly what it would all take, he wouldn't go for it.
"I would play the fucking Madman," Miller told Karl. "And everybody else would be like, 'All right, he's the new guy. He's fucking insane. Don't listen to him.' I was like, 'Hey, if we are going to do this shit, let's do it.'"
That was a contrast with how other former Trump aides handled the former president, including Miller's predecessor, who earned the nickname "Yesper" for being excessively deferential to the commander in chief.
"I have found oftentimes with provocative people, if you get more provocative than them, they then have to dial it down," Miller told Karl. "They're like, 'Yeah, I was fucking crazy,' but that guy's batshit.'"
Pompeo did not respond to Insider's request for comment.
The US and Iran have had a contentious dynamic for decades, but tensions reached historic heights in the Trump era. This largely stemmed from Trump's controversial decision to pull the US from the 2015 nuclear deal.
The pact, which was orchestrated by the Obama administration, was designed to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon in exchange for relief from economic sanctions.
After scrapping the agreement, Trump pursued a failed "maximum pressure" campaign against Iran — imposing crippling economic sanctions with the goal of squeezing it into negotiating a more stringent version of the 2015 pact. This approach backfired and primarily resulted in increasingly agressive behavior from Iran, catalyzing a series of skirmishes in the Persian Gulf region.
Trump raised fears of a new war in the Middle East in January 2020 when he ordered a drone strike that killed Iran's top general, Qassem Soleimani. Iran responded with a missile strike that injured dozens of US troops in Iraq. It also effectively abandoned the 2015 deal altogether after the Soleimani strike.
Both sides ultimately stepped away from a broader conflict. That said, tensions between the two countries remain high in the Biden era and Iran-backed militias have continued to target US troops with attacks in Iraq and Syria.