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“Mark Esper has been fired. I appreciate his efforts,” Trump wrote on Twitter on Monday night Swedish time.
The interim replacement with immediate effect will be Christopher Miller, currently director of the US National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) He barely has time to start the chair: In January, Joe Biden’s Defense Minister will take over.
To be prepared
Esper took office in July 2019. Trump is known to have been nervous with him on a number of issues. The gap widened this summer when Esper refused to deploy troops against the protests following the death of George Floyd during a police intervention in Minneapolis on May 25.
Sources tell the US media that Esper has long been preparing for parting to be in the cards.
During his tenure, Trump has had strained relations with the Pentagon. In the summer of 2018, Jim Mattis resigned as defense secretary after difficult disagreements with his boss, for example over the role of the United States in Syria and the speed with which troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan.
Strong criticism
According to Mattis, Trump is “the first president in my life who does not try to unite the American people and does not even intend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us.”
Both Mattis and Esper have criticized Trump’s condescending attitude toward the NATO defense alliance.
A senior government source claims CNN that Esper is now concerned that Trump’s next departure will be FBI Director Christopher Wray and CIA Director Gina Haspel, prominent CNN anchor Jake Tapper tweeted Monday night.
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