Washington, June 12 (RHC)-- U.S. Army General Mark Milley, the country's top military officer, said he was wrong to have accompanied President Donald Trump on a walk to a church through Lafayette Square, where he was photographed in his combat uniform with the presidential entourage.

"My presence at that moment and in that environment created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics," Milley said.  "As a commissioned uniformed officer, it was a mistake that I have learned from, and I sincerely hope we all can learn from it."

The statement by the Joint Chiefs chairman risked the wrath of a president sensitive to anything hinting of criticism of events he has staged.  Trump's June 1st walk through the park to pose with a Bible at a church came after authorities used pepper spray and flashbangs to clear the park and streets of largely peaceful protesters.

Milley said his presence and the photographs compromised his commitment to a military divorced from politics.  "I should not have been there," Milley said in prerecorded remarks to a National Defense University commencement ceremony.