Did retired Gen. Mark Milley tell troops being deployed to U.S. cities in August of 2025 that they "do not report to a dictator", as posts on social media claim? No, that's not true: Milley's remarks were made in September of 2023, almost two years before President Donald Trump sent the National Guard to Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Milley, in a speech at his retirement ceremony, addressed American military members in total, not any specific units or service branch.
The claim appeared in an August 24, 2025 X post (archived here) on the @MarioNawfal account, with the caption: "GEN. MILLEY TO THE NATIONAL TROOPS BEING DEPLOYED TO U.S CITIES: "WE DO NOT REPORT TO A DICTATOR!"".
This is what the post looked like at the time this fact check was written:
(Image Source: Lead Stories screenshot of post at x.com/MarioNawfal.)
The quotes are accurate, just placed in a misleading 2025 context, as opposed to the 2023 context, which was the end of Milley's tenure as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in which position he had clashed with Donald Trump during his first term as president.
The video accompanying the post is unaltered, showing the same September 29, 2023 speech reported on by numerous credible outlets (archived here) and still available on the YouTube channel of the Associated Press (archived here.).
In that speech, Milley argued the strength of the U.S. military is that its members swear an oath to defend the constitution and not to any person.
