Leon Panetta Slams Trump for saying 'my military'

A former U.S. defense secretary has spoken out against President Trump's recent use of the phrase, "my military."

Leon Panetta, who served under President Obama, told MSNBC's Chris Matthews on Thursday, "When it comes to the military, the military belongs to the country. Our defense system belongs to the country. And it's not the president's military, it's the military of the United States of America."

Panetta added about Trump, "He has responsibility obviously, as commander in chief, to be able to make decisions with regards to our military. But I think if you ask the men and women in uniform who they are responsible to, I think their answer would be, 'We're responsible to the United States of America.'"

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The president made the controversial comment during a press conference Thursday when a reporter asked if he had authorized a recent attack on Afghanistan using an explosive called "the mother of all bombs."

According to the New York Times, the weapon is the U.S. military's "most powerful conventional bomb."

Trump responded by saying, "What I do is I authorize my military. We have the greatest military in the world, and they've done a job as usual. So we have given them total authorization and that's what they're doing and frankly, that's why they've been so successful lately."

At least three dozen ISIS-linked militants are believed to have been killed in the attack, but an assessment of the full damage is still reportedly underway.