Top US Gen. Mark Milley told Stephen Miller to 'shut the f---up' when he said BLM protests were turning US cities into war zones, book says

• CNN published excerpts from the reporter Michael Bender's upcoming book on Trump's election loss.
• He reportedly wrote that Stephen Miller and Gen. Mark Milley clashed as protests raged in the US.
• The book says Milley told Miller to "shut the f--- up" after Miller said cities were like war zones, CNN said.

One of America's top generals told Stephen Miller to "shut the f--- up" after the Trump advisor suggested that protesters had turned US cities into war zones, a new book reportedly says.

In "Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost," set to be published in July, the Wall Street Journal reporter Michael Bender described the scene inside the White House as antiracism protests played out in Seattle and Portland last year, CNN reported on Thursday.

President Donald Trump, Miller, Attorney General Bill Barr, and Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were clashing over how to respond to the unrest, the book said, according to CNN.

During one debate in the Oval Office, Bender reportedly wrote, Miller said the protests reminded him of a war zone.

"These cities are burning," Miller was quoted as saying.

Milley turned around in his seat, pointed his finger at Miller, and said, "Shut the f--- up, Stephen," the book reportedly says.

The Department of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

CNN reported that Bender also detailed how Trump was keen to quash the protests with a show of force, telling his subordinates that he wanted to see law enforcement getting physical with protesters.

"That's how you're supposed to handle these people," Trump told top officials, Bender reportedly wrote. "Crack their skulls!"

The book reportedly says that Barr pushed back against Trump's ideas and that the president took the advice to a degree. "Well, shoot them in the leg - or maybe the foot," Trump was quoted as saying. "But be hard on them!"

Representatives for Trump did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Bender reportedly wrote that Milley, who considered the protests a political rather than military issue, tried to get as close to Trump as possible during the final months of his presidency, as he was concerned that Trump might invoke the Insurrection Act as a response to the protests.