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But every senior military officer also takes an oath to defend the Constitution, and pledges to refuse illegal, unconstitutional or criminal directives.

In the just-ended campaign, Trump also hammered the outgoing administration — first President Biden, and then Vice President Kamala Harris when she took up the fight after Biden dropped out — over the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2022 after the Taliban takeover, insisting that those who oversaw the pullout should have been fired.

He also praised Trump for tapping Elon Musk, a longtime friend of McCarthy and the world’s richest person, to help lead a new office to overhaul government.

The former speaker also predicted Trump’s tariff threats could result in opening markets for American goods and promote fairer trade with countries like China.

McCarthy also said the president-elect could deal with the war in Ukraine, repeating a Trump argument that Russian President Vladimir Putin didn’t invade during his first administration.