This is anything but surprising. We knew that when Defense secretary Esper made the statement that he didn’t thin the Insurrection Act was called for and very tepidly criticized the idea that the active-duty military should be brought into the streets of America, that Trump would go ballistic. I think I referred to him as a dead man walking. Apparently, it came very close:
President Trump reportedly came close to firing Defense Secretary Mark Esper after the Pentagon official broke with the President over invoking the Insurrection Act to quell the violence that emerged during nationwide protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death.
Last week, Esper contradicted Trump’s demand for governors to “dominate” protesters by activating the National Guard. Esper also argued that active duty forces should only be used in a law enforcement role as a “last resort.” CNN reported that Trump and other top officials were “not happy” with Esper following his remarks.
According to a Wall Street Journal report on Tuesday citing several administration officials, advisers and allies on Capitol Hill talked the President out of firing Esper. Officials told the Journal that Trump was “furious” over the defense secretary’s opposition to invoking the Insurrection Act.
The officials also told WSJ that Trump consulted several advisers — which included White House chief of staff Mark Meadows; Secretary of State Mike Pompeo; longtime Trump friend and outside adviser David Urban; and Sens. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and James Inhofe (R-OK) — about their opinion regarding Esper’s stance, and Trump intended to fire the defense secretary that day.
After speaking with advisers — who warned the President against firing Esper because it would put his administration in a tough spot — Trump held off, the officials told WSJ.
Esper reported also had his resignation letter all ready to go but was talked out of submitting it.
So, in the end, Trump didn’t fire him and he didn’t resign. How convenient. For Trump. I would expect that as soon as things cool off just a bit, Esper will be gone. That’s the kind of thing Trump will never forgive. If you’re going to do it you probably should just say your piece and then resign.