'Crack their skulls!': Trump told military to shoot and 'beat the f**k' out of BLM protesters last summer - but Joint Chiefs Chair Milley refused, new book reveals

 The top US general rejected then-President Donald Trump's push for the military to 'crack skulls' at civil rights protests across the nation in 2020.

Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley seemed to be at odds and - at times - the lone dissenting voice against the former president wanting to respond with force to protests over the murder of George Floyd, a black man who died while in police custody in Minneapolis.

Passionate exchanges between Milley and Trump were included in Wall Street Journal reporter Michael Bender's new book 'Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost,' of which CNN obtained excerpts.

It comes as Milley yesterday said recruits should be 'open-minded and be widely read' amid growing claims that the US military is becoming more 'woke'.

The military officer spoke out against growing criticism over teaching critical race theory in the military as he was grilled by Republican Congressmen.

While watching protests unfold in places like Seattle and Portland, Trump highlighted cops' physical exchanges with protestors and told his administration that's what he wanted to see, CNN reported.

'That's how you're supposed to handle these people,' Trump told his top law enforcement and military officials, Bender wrote, according to CNN. 'Crack their skulls!'

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Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley, at the June 17 Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, was reportedly at odds with Donald Trump when Trump was president

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While watching protests unfold in several cities last year, then-President Donald Trump, pictured here returning to NYC, wanted the military to 'crack skulls' 

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A protestor flies an American flag while walking through tear gas fired by federal officers during a protest in front of the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse on July 21, 2020 in Portland. Trump reportedly suggested violent crackdowns of protestors

Trump also told his team that he wanted the military to go in and 'beat the f--k out' of civil rights protestors, Bender wrote, according to CNN.

CNN reported other examples of Trump telling the military to shoot protestors. At one point, a Trump senior advisor Stephen Miller compared the protests to third-world countries, which angered Milley, Bender wrote. 

Milley, who commanded troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, said, 'Shut the f--k up, Stephen,' CNN reported from one of the excerpts. 

Bender's book showed Milley was concerned that Trump was going to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows the president to deploy the military in cases of rebellion or terrorist attack.  

Wall Street Journal reporter Michael Bender's book highlighted tense exchanges between Donald Trump and top General Mark Milley 

Milley reportedly saw the protests and unrest as a political issue - not a military one - and was strongly against implementing the Insurrection Act. 

CNN reported that Milley made a 'concerted effort' to stay in Washington as much as possible during Trump's final months in office. 

In one excerpt, Milley reportedly pointed to a picture of former President Abraham Lincoln's portrait hanging just to the right of Trump. 

'That guy had an insurrection,' Milley said. 'What we have, Mr. President, is a protest.' 

In June 2020 - a week after Floyd was killed by white former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin - activists who gathered in Lafayette Square, which faces the White House, were cleared away using force. 

Protestors were pushed back with pepper balls and smoke bombs before Trump walked, with Milley and then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper, to the St. John's Episcopal Church, directly across the street from Lafayette Park, for a photo op. 

He posed with a Bible outside the building. Trump did so just minutes after vowing to dispatch thousands of heavily armed soldiers to stop demonstrations. 

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Milley considered the civil unrest, like here in Portland, a political issue; not a military one

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On Wednesday, Milley also hit back against claims that the US military is becoming more 'woke' as he was grilled by Republican Congressmen. 

The military officer slammed criticism over teaching critical race theory in the military and said recruits should be 'open-minded and be widely read'.

He did not endorse critical race theory but strongly condemned those who say it shouldn't be taught.

'What is wrong with understanding - having some situational understanding - about the country for which we are here to defend?' Milley asked before the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee. 

'And I personally find it offensive that we are accusing the United States military, our general officers, our commissioned and noncommissioned officers, of being, 'woke' or something else, because we're studying some theories that are out there.' 

The general stressed the need for greater understanding of the driving forces behind the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by former President Donald Trump's supporters, including white supremacists, who tried to stop Congress from certifying Democrat Joe Biden's election win.

'I want to understand white rage, and I'm white and I want to understand it,' Milley said.

'What is it that caused thousands of people to assault this building and try to overturn the Constitution of the United States of America? What caused that? I want to find that out. I want to maintain an open mind here.'

He was responding after a Republican, U.S. Representative Michael Waltz, a former Army Green Beret, produced a letter from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point acknowledging teaching about critical race theory.

The theory maintains that racism is ingrained in U.S. law and institutions and that legacies of slavery and segregation have created an uneven playing field for black Americans.

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Pepper balls were used to clear protestors - although a judge cleared Trump of any lawbreaking after saying there was no proof he had conspired to violate the Constitution 

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After arriving at St John's Church, Trump denounced protestors, and help up a Bible for photos - but did not say any prayers 

Meanwhile, a federal judge recently cleared Trump of violating Black Lives Matter protestors' First Amendment right to demonstrate.

The judge tossed claims filed against the ex-president after saying there was no proof that Trump and his top officials had deliberately conspired to shift the protestors so he could walk to the church.

Milley, who continues to serves as the Joint Chiefs Chairman under President Joe Biden, has been front and center since Wednesday's testimony before the House Armed Services Committee. 

Republican lawmakers peppered him with questions about the military being too 'woke' and why the military was teaching critical race theory.

While not endorsing critical race theory, Milley strongly condemned those who say it shouldn't be taught.

'What is wrong with understanding - having some situational understanding - about the country for which we are here to defend?' Milley said before the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee.

'And I personally find it offensive that we are accusing the United States military, our general officers, our commissioned and noncommissioned officers, of being, "woke" or something else, because we're studying some theories that are out there.'

The general also stressed the need for greater understanding of the driving forces behind the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by Trump's supporters, including white supremacists, who tried to stop Congress from certifying Biden's election win.

'I want to understand white rage, and I'm white and I want to understand it,' Milley said.

'What is it that caused thousands of people to assault this building and try to overturn the Constitution of the United States of America? What caused that? I want to find that out. I want to maintain an open mind here.'