United States President, Donald Trump, has fired the Secretary of Defense, Mark Esper.
He immediately replaced him with Director of National Counterterrorism Christopher Miller in acting capacity.
Trump, who publicly split with Esper in recent months over a range of issues, said on Twitter that Christopher Miller, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, will become acting secretary of defense. The Senate would be highly unlikely to confirm any new nominee before Trump leaves office in January.
“Mark Esper has been terminated,” Trump said on Twitter. “I am pleased to announce that Christopher C. Miller, the highly respected Director of the National Counterterrorism Center (unanimously confirmed by the Senate), will be Acting Secretary of Defense, effective immediately.”
The Pentagon had no immediate comment.
Esper had long been preparing for the prospect of his resignation or dismissal following the election, particularly if Trump were to win a second term in office, sources said.
The two men fell out earlier this year when Esper opposed Trump’s threat to use active duty troops to suppress street protests over racial injustice in the US.
Esper also disagreed with Trump’s dismissive attitude toward the NATO alliance, sources said.
Trump has steadfastly refused to acknowledge his election loss to Democrat Joe Biden, alleging widespread voter fraud without evidence. His campaign team has launched legal challenges in several states.
Trump has had an uneasy relationship with the Pentagon, where Esper and top brass have repeatedly sought to avoid being seen as a political instrument of the Trump administration.
Esper’s predecessor, Jim Mattis, quit in 2018 over policy differences with Trump, including on Syria. Mattis in June criticized Trump as the “first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people – does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us.”
Like Mattis, Esper also disagreed with Trump’s dismissive attitude toward the NATO alliance and was wary of Trump’s inclination to see US military alliances through an explicitly transactional lens even as he backed Trump’s calls for allies to increase defense spending, sources said. (The Eye Witness)
