WAS SHINGTON – Secretary of Defense Mark T. Asper was fired by President Trump on Monday in the latest crash of a national security rotating door of top national security officials lying on the wrong side of his boss.
Mr. Trump Announced the decision on Twitter, Suddenly saying in the post that Mr. Asper was “finished”.
Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter that he was referring to Christopher C. Miller, who was appointed by the president to be acting secretary of defense as the “most respected” director of the National Counterterrorism Center. He will be the fourth man to head the Pentagon under Mr. Trump’s leadership, noting that Mr. Miller has already been approved by the Senate.
Mr. Miller is a former Army Green Barrett who previously served as Trump’s top counterterrorism policy officer at the White House National Security Council..
Publicly disagreed with Mr. Trump and said that active duty military troops should not be sent to quell a wave of protests in American cities in June, Mr. Asper’s fall was expected for months. Officials said the president, who threatened to use the Rebellion Act to do exactly that, was furious.
A spokesman for Mr Asper tried to recoup the damage, telling The New York Times that Mr Trump either did not want to use the Insidences Act, or that they would already attack. “We fail to disconnect,” said Jonathan Hoffman, a spokesman for Mr Asper.
White House officials disagree.
Mr. Trump met with Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick M. during an FBI interrogation during an FBI investigation into Mr.’s allegations. Mr Asper, 56, a former army secretary and Raytheon executive, became defense secretary last July after Shanahan withdrew his nomination. Shanahan’s ex-wife that he punched him in the stomach. Mr. Shanah denied the allegations.
Mr. Shanahan was in favor of Jim Mattis, who resigned as Secretary of Defense in 2018, citing his differences with the President.
Mr. Asper took pains to lead the Trump line during his tenure. But the Pentagon is deeply concerned about the demand for a coup law to send troops on active duty against protesters across the country. Under heavy public criticism, Mr. Asper eventually broke up with the President.
Belongs to Mr. Trump Referring to Mr. Asper “Mr. Yes. But the insult itself is ridiculous, as the Secretary of Defense had a public break with the president during a news conference in June, in which he spoke out against the use of active-duty American troops to quell civil unrest to start Mr. Trump. The remarks came after a walk with Mr. Trump on the border of Lafayette Square outside the White House, where protesters had just shed tears, condemned by former military and civil defense officials.
Through Midsummer, Mr. Asper was running a nice line to get back to other controversial positions involving the military Mr. Trump took over.
The Pentagon, once without mentioning the word “union”, announced in July that it would impose the necessary restrictions on displaying Union flags on military installations around the world.
Defense Department officials said the words were carefully written to illuminate the second defense of Mr. Trump’s flag in the map, Mr. Asper issued a guide listing the types of flags that appear on military installations – in barracks, in cars and on signs.
The guidelines did not specifically say that the federal flag was banned, but it does not fit into any of the approved categories – and such flags are prohibited.
After the horrific events of June, Mr. Asper tried to fly under the radar by keeping a low profile, avoiding the media to avoid getting into election politics.
Mr. Asper frequently traveled in early summer, including trips abroad to North Africa, the Middle East and India.
But the secretary deliberately limited his public comments on the road.
And when he spoke in public, either abroad or in Washington, he was always in predetermined comments, on safe topics (beating China and Russia on a trip to Africa) or in friendly places (in a question-and-answer session on military readiness). At the Heritage Foundation, where Mr. Asper served as Chief of Staff early in his career).
Yet, on the single biggest issue of 2020 – the coronavirus epidemic – history can show that Mr. Asper has left behind his boss, who mostly refused to wear a mask when he broke out at the White House and contracted the coronavirus. Mr. Asper, on the other hand, strictly adheres to the Centers’ Guidelines on Wearing Masks when unable to maintain the social distance suggested by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
At the Pentagon Virtual Town-Hall meeting, Mr. Asper told aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford replied to the sailor, who had complained that the ship had given up the necessary social distance in the morning.
“It’s boring – I understand that,” Mr Asper said. “But I think in terms of the Navy’s results in terms of infection rate, it’s showing that they’re doing very well.”
