Trump Suggests Military Should Discipline Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman

President Donald Trump suggested Tuesday that the military should consider taking disciplinary action against Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, whom Trump fired from his National Security Council last week in apparent retaliation for his role in the presidents impeachment .

Trumps remarks came in response to a reporter asking him if he was calling for disciplinary action against Vindman, whose dismissal from the NSC set off widespread outrage.

Thats gonna be up to the military. Well have to see, Trump said. If you look at what happened, they are certainly I would imagine take a look at that.

Trump then created more confusion about his stance by adding, But, no, I think what he did was just reported a false call.

Trump says the military should look at disciplining Lt. Col. Vindman for his Ukraine testimony.

\"That will be up to the military. If you look at what happened, they are certainly I would imagine take a look at that. But, no, I think what he did was reported a false call.\" pic.twitter.com/UgPvKS55uR

Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) February 11, 2020","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Justin Baragona","author_url":"https://twitter.com/justinbaragona","cache_age":86400,"description":"Trump says the military should look at disciplining Lt. Col. Vindman for his Ukraine testimony.\"That will be up to the military. If you look at what happened, they are certainly I would imagine take a look at that. But, no, I think what he did was reported a false call.\" pic.twitter.com/UgPvKS55uR Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) February 11, 2020\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false}},"provider_name":"Twitter","thumbnail_height":675,"thumbnail_url":"https://pbs.twimg.com/ext_tw_video_thumb/1227356494829641728/pu/img/9TnuRiANFIcpb_x3.jpg","thumbnail_width":1200,"title":"Justin Baragona on Twitter","type":"rich","url":"https://twitter.com/justinbaragona/status/1227356709645115394","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"mobile","editionInfo":{"id":"us","name":"U.S.","link":"https://action.news","locale":"en_US"},"originalEdition":"us","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"5e4320fac5b61f8ad4e0847b","entryPermalink":"https://action.news/entry/trump-vindman-military-disciplinary-action_n_5e4320fac5b61f8ad4e0847b","entryTagsList":"donald-trump,politics-and-government,joe-biden,impeachment,alexander-vindman,united-states-national-security-council","sectionSlug":"politics","deptSlug":"politics-news","sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"us.politics","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc111dcf87c2cd2f5d8bf","overrides":{"front_page_top_videos":{"desktop":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","mobileweb":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d"},"top_media":{"desktop":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","mobile":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"anthology":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"content":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"}},"playerUpdates":{"5668ae6ee4b0b5e26955d6a6":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","56aa41bae4b091744c0440d8":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81","5841b2b5cc52c716ec6e5a7f":"60b8e355cdd90620331ba185","58b5e2b8d85a10302feee895":"60b64316b171b7444beafdb2","58b74698f78ced31417819ae":"60b8e5bec5449357a7ad9b52","58b74ccecebcea57e2c3a3d1":"60b8e5eac5449357a7ad9ca5","58cff690d85a100b9992bc39":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","58cffb3fb6d9b972a49a3c9d":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","58cffdd74d96935d7d6ec180":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","58d03a84f78ced6518eb2fa7":"60b643c82e76be41f112735c","592edf20e0fa177b0c26f7fd":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","5b35266b158f855373e28256":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","5c116f29f79c4171d82b7c2a":"60b64440b171b7444beb040b","5c1170fc600c9a697bf0c6b9":"60b646102e76be41f1127ffc","5c47791afa1b317df8ae0c4f":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","5c477987a6b48b35f164773d":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","5c4779ee943c3c2a64f28371":"60b8e747cdd90620331bb861","5c477a26fcd67b26879bc7c2":"60b8e788c5449357a7ada67b","5d8921a78c3ae845f366c9b6":"60ae7be5f3a7c13a30417ff9","58b98b00ba82aa39a6534321":"60d0de7c9340d7032ad1146c","58b9d14cb6d9b96c9ec32af3":"60d0dec19340d7032ad115a0","58cff8eccebcea42931e0436":"60d0e005b627221e9d819d44","592edf5de0fa177b0c26f95b":"60d0e38fb627221e9d81adcf","58cff72fd85a100b9992c112":"60d0e447b627221e9d81b0da","56b4d34fe4b022697697c400":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","60b8e4c0c5449357a7ad957d":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b","clickToPlayPlayer":"d014396e-b366-4c17-aeac-3ce906fa3fd0","videoPagePlayer":"f010447b-d244-4111-a314-7b4542ae4145","verticalPlayer":"e58cb05a-0bc8-4210-9108-fea82726c065","stickyPlayerControl":"52ea1755-d601-4ad1-bccc-d8cce3f0e5da","stickyPlayerON":"8055e9e5-3bda-4933-8d45-9ad814fb6e22"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mNkYAAAAAYAAjCB0C8AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":7},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":1},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"5e4320fac5b61f8ad4e0847b","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"mobile","page_edition":"en-us"},"tags":[{"name":"Donald Trump","slug":"donald-trump","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/donald-trump","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/donald-trump","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/donald-trump"},"relegenceId":2789214,"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Donald Trump","slug":"donald-trump","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/donald-trump"},{"name":"Politics and Government","slug":"politics-and-government","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/politics-and-government","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/politics-and-government","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/politics-and-government"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Politics and Government","slug":"politics-and-government","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/politics-and-government"},{"name":"Joe Biden ","slug":"joe-biden","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/joe-biden","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/joe-biden","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/joe-biden"},"relegenceId":3519431,"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Joe Biden","slug":"joe-biden","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/joe-biden"},{"name":"impeachment","slug":"impeachment","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/impeachment","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/impeachment","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/impeachment"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Impeachment","slug":"impeachment","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/impeachment"},{"name":"Alexander Vindman","slug":"alexander-vindman","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/alexander-vindman","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/alexander-vindman","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/alexander-vindman"},"url":"https://action.news/topic/alexander-vindman"},{"name":"United States National Security Council","slug":"united-states-national-security-council","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/united-states-national-security-council","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/united-states-national-security-council","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/united-states-national-security-council"},"url":"https://action.news/topic/united-states-national-security-council"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["

\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false,"enhancements":{}}">

Trump says the military should look at disciplining Lt. Col. Vindman for his Ukraine testimony.

"That will be up to the military. If you look at what happened, they are certainly I would imagine take a look at that. But, no, I think what he did was reported a false call." pic.twitter.com/UgPvKS55uR
Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) February 11, 2020

Vindman, a wounded veteran of the Iraq war, was a key witness in the Houses impeachment investigation into Trumps efforts to prod the Ukraine government to open a probe targeting one of his Democratic political rivals, former Vice President Joe Biden .

Vindman was the first to testify during the hearings and told lawmakers he expressed concerns to other administration officials about Trumps comments during a July 25 phone call in which he pressured Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to launch the investigation. At the same time, the Trump administration was withholding congressionally approved military aid for Ukraine.

Your Support Has Never Been More Critical

Other news outlets have retreated behind paywalls. At HuffPost, we believe journalism should be free for everyone.

Would you help us provide essential information to our readers during this critical time? We can't do it without you.

Can't afford to contribute? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.

You've supported HuffPost before, and we'll be honest we could use your help again . We view our mission to provide free, fair news as critically important in this crucial moment, and we can't do it without you.

Whether you give once or many more times, we appreciate your contribution to keeping our journalism free for all.

Whether you give just one more time or sign up again to contribute regularly, we appreciate you playing a part in keeping our journalism free for all.

Support HuffPost

Trump has defended his call as perfect. But Vindmans testimony was widely viewed as some of the most damning during the trial.

Two days after the Senate voted against convicting Trump on either of two articles of impeachment, Trump dismissed both Vindman and his twin brother, Army Lt. Col. Yevgeny Vindman, from the NSC on Friday. The two remain in the military.

Trump also fired European Union Ambassador Gordon Sondland , who told the House Intelligence Committee that Trumps actions amounted to a clear quid pro quo. Sondland, a businessman before Trump appointed him the envoy post, contributed $1 million to Trumps inaugural committee.