On Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported that President Donald Trump was "on the brink" of firing Secretary of Defense Mark Esper last week, amid a disagreement between the two on using military force to control civil rights protesters.
"Officials said Mr. Trump was furious with Mr. Esper for not supporting his inclination to use active-duty troops to quell protests in Washington, D.C., Minneapolis and elsewhere following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25," reported Gordon Lubold. "The president consulted several advisers to ask their opinion of the disagreement, intent that day on removing Mr. Esper, his fourth defense secretary since taking office in January 2017, according to the officials. After talks with the advisers, who cautioned against the move, Mr. Trump set aside the plans to immediately fire Mr. Esper."
"At the same time, however, Mr. Esper, aware of Mr. Trump’s feelings, was making his own preparations to resign, partly in frustration over the differences regarding the role of the military, the officials said," the report continued. "He had begun to prepare a letter of resignation before he was persuaded not to do so by aides and other advisers, according to some of the officials."
"Last Wednesday, Mr. Esper said that he didn’t think using federal troops in American streets was warranted at that time," said the report. "The comments, made in an opening statement at a news conference at the Pentagon, weren’t vetted beforehand by the White House, and the statement caught officials there off guard, two officials said."
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