"My family and I are deeply grateful for the President's action today," Milley said in a statement to USA Today provided by a spokesperson.

The Pentagon on Monday removed the portrait of Mark Milley, the retired Army general and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to two Reuters witnesses, in a move that happened within two hours of President Donald Trump's inauguration.

Mark Milley's portrait as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was taken down from the Pentagon hallway where all of the paintings of the previous chairmen are located.

Trump has often criticized his former top general, whose portrait was taken down at the Pentagon just after the new administration took office.

The portrait of Milley hung in an ornate hallway that is dedicated to the history of the Joint Chiefs and displays 19 other paintings of all other prior chairmen going back to Gen. Omar Bradley.