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Image source, Reuters
Defense Secretary Mark Esper was the most recent of the set of officials fired by Trump
President Donald Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who announced on Twitter that the senior US official had been “removed.”
Christopher Miller, the current director of the National Counterterrorism Center, will take up this role immediately.
This has followed the public rift between Trump and Esper in recent weeks.
So far, Trump has refused to accept the results of Joe Biden’s election as president-elect and vowed to challenge this expected outcome in court.
In the weeks leading up to Biden’s inauguration on January 20, Trump remained in decisive power.
Image source, EPA
President Trump announced that Christopher Miller would immediately become Secretary of Defense
Miller was seen walking into Defense Department headquarters at the Pentagon on Monday shortly after Trump announced Esper’s firing.
The Special Forces veteran served on President Trump’s National Security Council before becoming director of the Counterterrorism Center in August.
In his resignation, Mr. Esper thanked members of the Armed Forces and said he was proud of their accomplishments during his 18 months of service with the Pentagon.
“I serve my country to protect the Constitution, so I accept your decision to replace me,” he wrote.
Top Democrat Nancy Pelosi criticized the decision. The Speaker of the House of Representatives said:
“The sudden firing of Secretary of State Esper is disturbing evidence that President Trump intends to use the final days of his term to wreak havoc on American democracy and around the world.”
In sTrump’s discord with the Secretary of Defense?
As protests rocked the United States after the death of black man George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota in May, Trump threatened to use the military to quell unrest. .
In June, Esper, a former military officer, said the use of standing forces was unnecessary, in comments that allegedly offended the White House.
Following the aforementioned clashes, many speculated that the president would fire the defense secretary, although Trump did not give a reason for the firing on Monday.
Esper also disagreed with Trump over the president’s rejection of NATO.
In an interview with the Military Times last week, Esper said that despite his troubled relationship with the White House, he did not believe resigning was the right thing to do.
“The president will do it, he is very transparent about what he wants. And he is very clear about his views … I am not trying to please anyone,” he told the page. these news.
“What I’m trying to do is do what he wants, I mean, he’s the duly elected commander-in-chief, and he’s making the most of that.”
President Trump laid off a significant number of officials and advisers during his tenure and often used Twitter to announce layoffs.
Esper’s predecessor was James Mattis, who resigned in 2018 due to differences with the president, including the war in Syria.
In June, as protests over racial injustice continued, Mattis criticized Donald Trump as “the first president in my life that I have ever seen without trying to unite the American people, not even pretending.” Instead, he tried to divide us. “
