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Image: AP / Orlando Sentinel
Analysis
Donald Trump fires his defense secretary: revenge or more?
The impeachment of Mark Esper could mark the beginning of a presidential revenge, or the beginning of a coup.
It was not surprising that Donald Trump fired his defense secretary, Mark Esper, some 70 days before its completion, or that he did so on Twitter. Yet all of Washington is now baffled over his motives: Was it just childish revenge or is there something else?
Esper knew long ago that his days at the Pentagon were numbered. He was elevated to office because his charismatic predecessor, Jim Mattis, no longer wanted to support the president’s Middle East policy after the Kurdish betrayal. Therefore, Esper was considered a capable technocrat, but also a man loyal to Trump. The president even nicknamed him “Yesper,” based on Yesman (for “yes man”).
A discharge with an announcement: Mark Esper. Image: sda
But even this “Yesper” apparently has the remains of a spinal column on his body. In the summer, Trump had Lafayette Park in Washington evacuated by law enforcement officers with tear gas and clubs for his indescribable biblical appearance. One of the people who had to march down the aisle to the church was Esper. That was too much for the defense minister: he then distanced himself and made it clear that in the future soldiers will not be able to be used against protesters.
With that, Esper had de facto signed his dismissal letter. Should be escorted soon. FBI chief Christopher Wray is also on Trump’s target list, as is CIA chief Gina Haspel. That would behead the top national security leadership in one fell swoop. What’s behind?
The obvious explanation is simple: revenge. The boy-man Trump wants revenge on everyone he believes has betrayed him. “It’s not just childish, it’s reckless,” said Adam Smith, a Democratic representative and chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
The head movements also prompted the choice of Esper’s successor, Chris Miller. The former Green Beret, an elite troop of the US Army, has to lead official business as interim defense minister. It is a largely blank slate. Nobody expected it.
What is Trump up to? Esper’s successor, Chris Miller. Image: keystone
Should Miller be misused as a tool in Trump’s revenge campaign? “In private conversations, Defense Ministry employees express their fears that the president is planning retaliatory attacks, whether public or secret, against Iran or other enemies in his last days,” writes the New York Times.
However, perhaps Trump wants more than revenge. Ezra Klein, editor-in-chief of the news portal Vox, fears that he wants to create the conditions for a coup. Small is not just anyone, he is one of the most respected political journalists in the United States.
“Trump is planning a coup in broad daylight,” says Klein. He deliberately wanted to cause chaos and then reverse the election result. It was no accident that the president tweeted last Saturday in capital letters: “I WIN THESE ELECTIONS WITH A BIG ADVANTAGE.”
Klein suspects that Trump hopes one of the three federal judges he has appointed will rush to help him and confirm his allegation of voter fraud. The most likely candidate for this is Amy Coney Barrett, her most recent nomination. The plan then states that voters in swing states are not selected according to the votes cast, but by a Republican-dominated parliament.
Will she come to Trump’s aid? Newly appointed federal judge Amy Coney Barrett. Image: keystone
Why are the Republicans doing this smear show? Aside from the usual suspects, Mitt Romney, Susan Collins, and Lisa Murkowski, top GOP members are still behind Trump. The corrupt Attorney General William Barr has even given the green light to investigate allegations of alleged voter fraud.
Above all, Mitch McConnell, the Republican Majority Leader in the Senate, demonstrably supports Trump. He was “100 percent correct” with what he was doing, he said. McConnell will not be guided by moral considerations, but solely by tactical considerations. There are still two open Senate seats in the state of Georgia.
If these Republican seats are lost, he will lose a majority and McConnell will lose his powerful office. Therefore, he does not want to upset the rank and file of the Republican Party, because he knows that they are still like a stone behind Trump.
Cynical Power Politician: Mitch McConnell. Image: keystone
However, it is questionable whether this cynical calculation will work. There is no evidence of Trump’s election manipulation allegations. So far, all the claims have been rejected in court.
Several respected attorneys on Trump’s team are even considering whether it is still compatible with his reputation to represent these lawsuits. Because there is not only a lack of evidence, there is also an understandable lack of logic. Why should the Democrats have faked the presidential election, but at the same time allowed them to lose seats in the House of Representatives and not win a majority in the Senate? The contradiction is so glaring that even Trump’s home station, Fox News, is distancing itself.
No one doubts Trump’s diabolical intentions and no one expects him to resign with dignity. Fortunately, he and his team are incompetent, to say the least. The last example was provided by Rudy Giuliani, who else?
Trump’s lawyer has called a press conference in Philadelphia over the weekend, specifically at the “Four Seasons.” All the journalists assumed that it was, of course, a very classy hotel chain. But someone from Giuliani’s team must have mixed something up. The address given was for “Four Seasons Landscaping”. It’s a dilapidated construction company in a rundown area.
Not exactly a fancy venue: Rudy Giuliani’s press conference in a rickety parking lot. Image: keystone
Then it happened that several dozen astonished journalists suddenly found themselves gathered in a parking lot, where Giuliani, wedged between a sex shop and a crematorium, was putting on his strange spectacle. American comedians will live off this concert for days.
