A 'Reichstag moment'

President Donald Trump, joined by from left Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, pauses as he speaks to media during a briefing with senior military leaders in the Cabinet Room at the White House in Washington, Monday, Oct. 7, 2019. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, AP)

We came close to a 'Reichstag moment'.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — an advisory body to the president — was actively planning for a confrontation with Trump over what Milley saw as the former president's stoking of tensions in an attempt to the lay the groundwork for a coup

The alarm only increased after the election, when Trump and his allies contested the results of the 2020 election and called on his supporters to oppose the legitimacy of the electoral process, often implying violence may be necessary.

The top brass was so disturbed by Trump's rhetoric casting doubt on the legitimacy of the election before it was held that the leaders discussed contingency plans for how to thwart any illegal power grabs by the president, including how and when to resign in protest over his actions.

"They may try, but they're not going to f****** succeed," Milley told his officers, according to Leonnig and Rucker. "You can't do this without the military. You can't do this without the CIA and the FBI. We're the guys with the guns."

We dodged a bullet this time.