President Donald Trump on Thursday said he will not allow the Navy to take away an emblem signifying membership in the elite SEALs unit from an officer convicted of posing with an teen ISIS fighter's corpse.
"The Navy will NOT be taking away Warfighter and Navy Seal Eddie Gallagher’s Trident Pin. This case was handled very badly from the beginning," the tweet read. "Get back to business!"
Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher was acquitted in July by a military jury of murder and war crimes but was found guilty of posing with the corpse of the teenage fighter for the Islamic State militant group.
The Navy is aware of the tweet and has requested further guidance, according to a U.S. official familiar with the case. Currently, Navy officials are trying to determine how the tweet will be implemented.
Gallagher was ordered dropped in rank from chief to petty officer first class. But last week, Trump reversed the order, directing Gallagher's restoration as chief petty officer.
Trump's order was widely reported to have created a rift with the Navy, and Tuesday night, a defense official said the service would seek to strip Gallagher and three of his supervising officers of the gold eagle Trident emblem signifying that they are members of one of the Navy's elite Special Warfare Navy Sea, Air and Land units, known as SEALs.
