Even while he’s at the center of a fiery impeachment investigation, President Donald Trump prioritized reversing a U.S. Navy decision Thursday to oust a Navy SEAL official accused of shooting civilians and fatally stabbing a wounded teen captive with a hunting knife in Iraq in 2017.
Although Navy SEAL Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher was ultimately acquitted of the most heinous charges against him, that didn’t hold true of a charge related to posing for a photo with the body of the slain captive, according to The New York Times. Members of his own platoon turned Gallagher in after the deployment, and he was demoted by one rank.
That didn’t stop the president from repeatedly sticking up for the convicted war criminal and even reversing his demotion.
“The Navy will NOT be taking away Warfighter and Navy Seal Eddie Gallagher’s Trident Pin,” Trump tweeted Thursday. “This case was handled very badly from the beginning. Get back to business!”
Removing a Navy official’s Trident pin revokes the coveted SEAL status, but doesn’t prevent the official from remaining in the military. Cmdr. Tamara Lawrence said in a media statement that the Navy has stripped 154 Tridents since 2011.
The Navy on Wednesday told Gallagher he would face a review next month to determine his future status on the force, according to the Star Tribune.
It’s unclear how the president’s tweet will impact those proceedings.
“The Navy follows the lawful orders of the President,” Rear Adm. Charlie Brown, a Navy spokesman, said on Thursday in a statement to Daily Kos. “We will do so in case of an order to stop the administrative review of SOC Gallagher’s professional qualification. We are aware of the President’s tweet and we are awaiting further guidance.”
Several Twitter users maintain that revoking or restoring Gallagher’s Trident pin isn’t up to the president.
A SEAL’s Trident can be taken if a commander loses “faith and confidence in the service member’s ability to exercise sound judgment, reliability and personal conduct,” according to Navy regulations cited by the Times.