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The case is being updated.
“Esper’s sudden firing is disturbing evidence that President Trump intends to spend his final days in office creating chaos in our American democracy and around the world,” said President Nancy Pelosi, the most powerful Democrat in the United States. Congress, in a statement. The hill.
Trump announced on Twitter Monday that he has dumped his fourth defense minister in four years. It wasn’t entirely unexpected, because the relationship between Esper and Trump has been extremely tense since this summer.
Yet it is surprising that Trump replaces the defense secretary, less than a week after losing the presidential election to Joe Biden and only ten weeks before he leaves the White House.
Trump refuses to acknowledge the electoral defeat and has vowed to fight the outcome in court.
We have a press
Esper resisted pressure from the White House to deploy federal troops to suppress protesters during unrest in the United States this summer. Esper publicly stated that it shouldn’t happen. It has also put sticks in the wheels for a swift withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan and, in practice, banned the use of flags of the southern states in the military.
Christopher C. Miller (55) has been appointed Acting Secretary of Defense and will therefore be the head of the US military for the next 71 days.
Consultant
Miller spent 31 years in the military, fighting the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq with special forces. After retiring in 2014, the government used him as a consultant on covert operations and intelligence.
Miller has been director of the US National Counterterrorism Center since August, following unanimous approval by the Senate. In 2018 and 2019, he was an adviser to the White House on counterterrorism and transnational threats.
Anti-terrorism
At the Department of Defense, Miller has also been responsible for special operations in areas such as counter-terrorism, unconventional warfare, and irregular warfare.
– Chris wants to do a GREAT job! Trump tweeted as he thanked Esper for his efforts and announced that the minister change will take effect immediately.
At the same time, there is another major replacement in the American security apparatus. The US special envoy to the international coalition against ISIS will retire and be replaced by the US State Department coordinator for counterterrorism work, Nathan Sales, writes DPA.
Esper (56) has been head of the Pentagon since June 2019, when he replaced Patrick Shanahan, who served after Jim Mattis left on New Years. Prior to this, he had been a minister of the Army and a lobbyist for the Defense Industry.
Mattis resigned in protest of Trump’s Syria policy.
