President Trump reportedly wanted to dismiss Defense Secretary Mark Esper last week over conflicting views on the use of active-duty troops to quell nationwide protests, but was talked out of it by advisers and lawmakers.
Officials told The Wall Street Journal that Trump — angry with Esper for not backing his threats to use active-duty forces to quash unrest in Washington, D.C., Minneapolis and other cities — was focused on sacking the Pentagon chief last Wednesday.
But when Trump asked several advisers for their opinions on the matter, he was reportedly counseled to shelve such a plan.
Esper at the same time had started to prepare a letter of resignation as he was aware of Trump’s anger, but stopped after aides and other advisers pressed against it, some of the officials told the Journal.
Earlier that day Esper had said that he did not support invoking the Insurrection Act — an 1807 law that allows the president to use the military for domestic law enforcement — over protests following the police killing of unarmed black man George Floyd, in Minneapolis on May 25. He said such a move should be done only as a “last resort” and that the protests did not warrant such a response.
The stance was a break in messaging from Trump, who had urged governors to deploy National Guard troops to “dominate the streets” and stop any unrest, threatening to dispatch U.S. military forces to states and cities that did not meet his demands.
………
- Discussion
-
JUST IN: Trump was talked out of firing Esper last week: report https://t.co/fvtxRIcI5E pic.twitter.com/GEJOvvq63q
— The Hill (@thehill) June 9, 2020
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.