It’s being reported now that Trump almost fired his Secretary of Defense last week after he held a news conference and announced he didn’t support using active-duty troops to restore order and invoking the insurrection act:
DC EXAMINER – President Trump was reportedly close to firing Defense Secretary Mark Esper after the Pentagon chief publicly broke with him over deploying active-duty troops during recent protests.
The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Trump was prepared to ax Esper but was convinced not to do so after he consulted with several advisers and Republican lawmakers. Esper, who knew about the president’s feelings toward him, had also reportedly begun preparations for a resignation letter before being persuaded not to do so.
The tension came to a head when Esper publicly broke with Trump during a hastily called briefing at the Pentagon. The defense chief said he didn’t support the president invoking the Insurrection Act of 1807 to quell demonstrations that began after the death of George Floyd.
“I’ve always believed and continue to believe that the National Guard is best suited for performing domestic support to civil authorities in these situations, in support of local law enforcement. I say this not only as secretary of defense, but also as a former soldier and a former member of the National Guard,” Esper said.
“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 of situations. We are not in one of those situations now,” he added.
According to some officials, Esper’s comments were not vetted by the administration prior to the Pentagon news conference, and officials in the White House were caught off guard.
“It was a bad day. The president was close to losing confidence in him,” according to an official in the administration. “Ultimately, he decided to keep him in place.”
It wasn’t his comments on the Insurrection Act and his being against the use of active-duty troops, Esper also seemed to distance himself from Trump’s visit to St. John’s Church and his ‘photo-op’:
" I was not aware of was exactly where we were going when we arrived at the church and what the plans were once we got there."
— @EsperDoD pic.twitter.com/mHpVkUmaaS
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) June 3, 2020
It felt like Esper was slowly backing away from Trump as if he were toxic or something. I can imagine that Trump likely went through the roof when he heard about it (or watched it on TV).
The Examiner reports that Trump and Esper had a meeting after his presser and they worked it out:
According to officials, Esper and Trump came to terms after the two met for a previously scheduled White House meeting following Esper’s Wednesday news briefing.
When contacted about this report, the White House directed the Washington Examiner to comments by White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on the matter.
“President Trump remains confident in Secretary Esper. Secretary Esper has been instrumental in securing our nation’s streets and ensuring Americans have peace and confidence in the security of their places of business, places of worship, and their homes,” she said Saturday.
Boy I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall in that meeting…