Trump Fires Defense Secretary Mark Esper On Twitter

WASHINGTON, DC — President Donald Trump fired his defense secretary, Mike Esper, on Twitter Monday, announcing that Christopher C. Miller, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, would take his place.

Miller, a former Army Green Beret who served as the top counterterrorism policy official for Trump's National Security Council, had previously been confirmed by the Senate — a point Trump made in his abrupt announcement on Twitter. He will be the Trump administration's fourth Pentagon chief.

Trump jettisoned Esper two days after Joe Biden was projected to win the 2020 presidential election. The decision immediately raised questions about other administration officials who may be fired by a lame duck president who has yet to concede the election.

Trump and the 56-year-old Esper, who had served as secretary of the Army until he was tapped as defense secretary in July 2019, had clashed on issues such as the withdrawal of U.S. troops from key overseas military bases, the banning of Confederate flags and emblems from the nation's military installations and, notably, the appropriateness of deploying U.S. troops to cities where racial justice protests were taking place after the death of George Floyd at the hands of police.

In an extraordinary break with Trump in June, Esper said the Insurrection Act, an 1807 law that would have allowed Trump to deploy active-duty U.S. troops to respond to the civil unrest, should be used only as a last resort.

“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 told reporters in June.

The firing wasn't unexpected. Esper prepared a letter of resignation weeks ago as his relationship with Trump continued to deteriorate, NBC News reported.

Trump tapped had Esper to replace Patrick Shanahan, who resigned as the acting defense secretary after details of his tumultuous personal life came forward.

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