Tag: Mark Esper

Defense secretary sent classified memo to White House about Afghanistan before Trump fired him

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In the run-up to the election, President Trump’s tweet saying that all U.S. troops in Afghanistan should be “home by Christmas!” raised alarm among senior U.S. officials who had been working on a more gradual withdrawal.

The existing plan, tied to precarious negotiations with the Taliban insurgent group to sign a peace deal with the Afghan government, had not yielded the progress that American officials wanted. While the Pentagon was on its way to reducing the number of troops to fewer than 5,000 this month, negotiations appeared to stall and the Taliban continued to launch attacks across the country.

After consulting with senior military officers, Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper sent a classified memo to the White House this month expressing concerns about additional cuts, according to two senior U.S. officials familiar with the discussion. Conditions on the ground were not yet right, Esper wrote, citing the ongoing violence, possible dangers to the remaining troops in the event of a rapid pullout, potential damage to alliances and apprehension about undercutting the negotiations. Continue reading.

Trump fires Defense chief Mark Esper

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President Trump on Monday announced he had fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper, a stunning move that comes days after Joe Biden was projected to have won the presidential race. 

“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,” Trump said in a series of tweets. “Chris will do a GREAT job! Mark Esper has been terminated. I would like to thank him for his service.”

Esper had long been seen as out the door, regardless of who won the election. But firing him now gives Trump a chance to flex his executive powers at a time he is trying to project strength amid his electoral defeat. Continue reading.

A Trump Victory May Push His Defense Secretary Out an Open Door

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Mark Esper’s strained relationship with President Trump, since he balked at using active-duty troops to quell civil unrest, may result in Mr. Trump choosing a new defense secretary if he keeps the White House.

WASHINGTON — Throughout the long corridors of the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper is widely seen as a dead man walking.

There is a broad consensus that if President Trump defies the pollsand wins re-election, the president has so belittled his defense secretary, referring to him as “Yesper” and deriding him both publicly and privately, that a new defense secretary soon would be sitting in the prestigious outer ring of the Pentagon’s third floor.

Asked if he has considered firing Mr. Esper, who took over the post in July 2019, Mr. Trump told reporters at a White House news conference in August: “I consider firing everybody. At some point, that’s what happens.” Continue reading.

‘Appalling and dangerous’: Trump’s Pentagon chief under fire after leaked military docs refer to journalists as ‘adversaries’

AlterNet logoSecretary of Defense Mark Esper is requiring all all DoD personnel, including military, civilian and on-site contractors, to complete a course that refers to protestors and even journalists as “adversaries,” Politico reports. In defending the term, a Pentagon spokesperson went on to refer to protestors and journalists as a “threat.”

The “mandatory Pentagon training course” is “designed to teach Defense Department personnel how to better protect sensitive information,” namely leaks, Politico adds. The training must be completed in the next 60 days.

“The Department of Defense (DoD) remains committed to transparency to promote accountability and public trust. [However] unauthorized disclosures jeopardize our DoD personnel, operations, strategies and policies to the benefit of our adversaries,” Secretary Esper writes in a memo. Continue reading.

Trump’s Defense Secretary Moves to Shed His ‘Yes Man’ Reputation

After a year of being overshadowed by others, Mark Esper is trying to prove he’s not a pushover.

Mark Esper scanned the list of officers up for promotion until he found the one he was looking for: Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the star witness in the impeachment inquiry who famously told Congress that President Donald Trump’s July 25 phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart undermined U.S. national security.

The Defense secretary knew that approving Vindman’s promotion could put him at odds with the White House, which had mounted a retaliation campaign to force the Army officer into retirement.

Esper signed the papers anyway. Continue reading.

Defense secretary effectively bans Confederate flags from military bases while rejecting ‘divisive symbols’

Washington Post logoDefense Secretary Mark T. Esper effectively banned displays of the Confederate battle flag on U.S. military installations, saying in a memo Friday that the “flags we fly must accord with the military imperatives of good order and discipline, treating all our people with dignity and respect, and rejecting divisive symbols.”

The memo does not explicitly mention Confederate banners but states that the American flag is the “principal flag we are authorized and encouraged to display.”

Esper chose not to name any specific, prohibited flag “to ensure the department-wide policy would be apolitical and withstand potential free speech political challenges but that the services are still free to act on other flags,” according to a defense official familiar with the secretary’s decision. Continue reading.

Trump: Esper, Milley “should be proud” of Lafayette Square walk

Axios logoPresident Trump declined on Friday to say he retains full confidence in Defense Secretary Mark Esper, and said Esper and Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley should have been “proud” to join him on the now-infamous walk across Lafayette Square.

Driving the news: “I personally think they should have done it differently,” Trump told Axios in an interview Friday in the Oval Office. “I think they should be proud to walk alongside of their president for purposes of safety.”

Why it matters: Despite initial indications that he accepted their pushback against him, Trump remains irked by his top military leaders’ public statements. Esper told colleagues he felt deeply uncomfortable being drawn into the photo op at St. John’s church, and Milley publicly apologized for his participation in the episode.

Defense secretary says Pentagon official who questioned legality of withholding Ukraine aid to resign

The Pentagon official who raised concerns about the Ukraine aid being held in 2019 has submitted her resignation to Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, the Pentagon announced Tuesday

Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) Elaine McCusker will resign effective June 26, Esper said in a statement.

“Since joining the Department of Defense Elaine has worked tirelessly to ensure that our budgeting and audit processes give full value to the taxpayer while meeting the enormous security needs of our nation as well as the men and women who serve it,” Esper said. “I am grateful for her dedication to public service and the contributions that she has made to the Department and wish her the very best in her future endeavors.” Continue reading.

Gen. Milley’s apology shows respect for the principles Trump tramples on

Washington Post logoTEN DAYS after walking in combat fatigues through Lafayette Square with President Trump, just after the park was cleared of peaceful protesters, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, has apologized for getting involved in domestic politics. The general is on target. He should never have been there, and it is to his great credit to admit the mistake. It may encourage others always to respect the Constitution, even when a president is beckoning to cross the line.

On June 1, people protesting the killing of George Floyd in police custody were pushed back with the use of chemical irritants, and Mr. Trump walked to a photo opportunity to hold up a Bible at St. John’s Episcopal Church, trailed by Gen. Milley, Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper and Attorney General William P. Barr, among others. Earlier, Mr. Esper had joined the president in a conference call with governors and promised federal support against violence. Mr. Esper told the governors, “I think the sooner that you mass and dominate the battlespace, the quicker this dissipates and we can get back to the right normal. We need to dominate the battlespace.”

Both Mr. Esper and Gen. Milley showed miserable judgment. The military’s purpose is to fight foreign adversaries, the United States is not a “battlespace,” and walking along with Mr. Trump in a park where peaceful demonstrators had been repulsed sent a terrible signal. Last week, both the secretary and the chairman, having come under blistering criticism, issued letters to the troops reaffirming their commitment to the oath all have taken to uphold the Constitution and its values of free speech and assembly. Continue reading.

Esper under fire after breaking with Trump on Insurrection Act

Fissures emerge in GOP on the issue of deploying troops to quell protesters

Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper’s implicit rebuke of President Donald Trump over using active-duty troops to quell domestic unrest may have landed Esper in hot water and is revealing splits within GOP ranks on the question.

Even as upheaval in U.S. cities has started to wane, the political fallout may still spread.

Two days after Trump said he might need to send active-duty troops to help police combat lawlessness in major cities — even if governors did not want the troops — Esper told reporters Wednesday he did not see the urgency in adding regular troops to the thousands of National Guard forces now backing up American police. Continue reading.