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refired current US President Donald Trump shortly after the lost election, Defense Secretary Mark Esper. The office will be taken over by Christopher Miller, as Trump wrote on Twitter Monday. Miller was previously director of the National Center Against Terrorism. Rumors about Esper’s firing had circulated for months. However, that step was expected especially in the event of a Trump victory in the presidential election.
Since the summer there has been tension between the president and the defense minister. He had refused to quell protests against racism and police violence with soldiers, which had escalated into riots in some places. Trump had threatened to apply the “Insurrection Law,” which allows the president to use the military at the national level in certain circumstances.
National military?
Esper described this step as a “last resort” that should only be used in “the most urgent and worst situations.” The fact that the defense minister is so publicly distant from the country’s commander-in-chief is highly unusual and infuriated Trump. The US media reported at the time, citing Trump’s entourage, who had raised the issue of replacing Espers in the summer.
Additionally, there were disagreements on how to deal with the Confederate flag, among other things, that had become the focus of the debate on racism in America. Esper had ordered the flag to be banned from military installations. However, he had avoided an open confrontation with Trump by waiving an express ban on the flag.
NBC had already reported Thursday that Esper had prepared a resignation because he was long expected to be fired after the election. Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman had rejected the report, saying the minister had no plans to resign nor had he been asked to resign.
Rumors of a possible firing of Espers and other government officials in the wake of the elections persisted to the end. The news platform “Axios” reported at the end of October that, in the event of an electoral victory, Trump wanted to fire not only Esper but also the head of the Federal Police of the FBI, Christopher Wray, and the director of the foreign intelligence service of the CIA, Gina Haspel.
Four years of Trump
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From Covfefe to Covid
Image: AFP
Trump’s term was marked by layoffs and resignations within the government. Esper had succeeded James Mattis at the head of the Pentagon, who announced his resignation in December 2018 due to a disagreement with Trump.
