Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, who is retiring at the end of the month, says that former President Donald Trump once warned him not to bring a wounded veteran to public events again.

In a profile piece titled “The Patriot” for The Atlantic by Jeffrey Goldberg, details about Milley’s welcoming ceremony in 2019 were revealed like Trump allegedly saying that “no one wants to see” wounded veterans.

At the ceremony at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Milley chose Luis Avila, a wounded army captain, to sing “God Bless America.”

Avila lost a leg to an IED during one of his five combat tours. He’d also suffered strokes, heart attacks, and brain damage as a result of his injuries.

According to Goldberg, the ceremony was a rainy day and Avila nearly toppled over as he was being pushed in a wheelchair. Helping him were Milley’s wife, Hollyanne, and then-Vice President Mike Pence.

Trump came up to Milley, who has clashed with the former president before, after the performance and said, “Why do you bring people like that here? No one wants to see that, the wounded” and barred Milley from inviting him to future public events.

Goldberg reported the statement was made in earshot of several witnesses.

Footage from the ceremony shows Trump embracing Avila after his performance.

On his hardships and disagreements with Trump, Milley said he tried to use “persuasion” with the former president.

“You can judge my success or failure on this, but I always tried to use persuasion with the president, not undermine or go around him or slow-roll. I would present my argument to him. The president makes decisions, and if the president ordered us to do X, Y, or Z and it was legal, we would do it,” he said, emphasizing Trump never ordered him to something illegal.