Donald Trump Fires Defense Secretary
Donald Trump might be fired but he’s still in the White House, and apparently taking his frustration out on his staff.
On Monday, Trump fired his defense secretary, Mark Esper.
In a tweet on Monday afternoon, he said he was “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. Chris will do a GREAT job! Mark Esper has been terminated. I would like to thank him for his service.”
The announcement comes five months after he and his Esper clashed on how to handle civil unrest in America’s cities. Esper did not support Trump deploying active-duty U.S. troops to respond to civil unrest stemming from protests against police brutality.
“I say this not only as secretary of Defense, but also as a former soldier and a former member of the National Guard, the option to use active-duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort, and only in the most urgent and dire situations. We are not in one of those situations now,” Esper said in June.
Miller will only work for two months until Joe Biden takes over the White House.