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Until election winner Joe Biden is sworn in on January 20, the president of the United States can continue to rule Washington and remove ministers. Youngest victim: Mark Esper.
Shakehands are a thing of the past: Mark T. Esper and Donald Trump during a briefing at the White House.
Photo: Ron Sachs (Keystone)
Outgoing US President Donald Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper shortly after the lost election. 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, such a step was expected after the election, especially in the event of a Trump victory.
Since the summer there has been tension between the president and the defense minister. The background was protests against racism and police violence, in which Trump presented himself as an intransigent and threatened to end the unrest in the country with military force if necessary. To do this, he would have had to activate the “Insurrection Act” of 1807, which allows the President of the United States to deploy the United States Army in the country under certain circumstances.
Esper had spoken out against the use of the US military to stop the unrest and had clearly distanced himself from Trump. He had described that step as a “last resort” that should only be used in “the most urgent and worst situations”. The fact that the current Pentagon chief is so publicly distant from the country’s commander-in-chief is extremely unusual and was apparently not well received by Trump. The US media reported at the time, citing Trump’s entourage, who had already raised the question of a replacement.
Controversial Appearance: Washington police led the way for President Trump through Lafayette Park to St. John’s Church. Among others, Trump was accompanied by Esper (center).
Photo: Patrick Semansky (Keystone)
There were also disagreements on how to treat, among other things, the Confederate flag, which was 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 and that he had not been asked to resign.
Rumors about the possible dismissal of Esper 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 Trump wanted to fire the head of the Federal Police of the FBI, Christopher Wray, the director of the foreign intelligence service of the CIA, Gina Haspel, and Esper in case of electoral victory.
Trump’s term was marked by layoffs and resignations within the government. Esper had succeeded James Mattis as head of the Pentagon, who resigned in December 2018 due to a disagreement with Trump.
