US Defense Secretary Mark Esper. Yuri Gripas/Reuters
Reuters: Trump privately discussing replacing Defense Secretary Esper after election
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump has privately discussed with advisers the possibility of replacing Defense Secretary Mark Esper after the November election following a growing number of differences between them, a source familiar with the internal debate said on Wednesday.
The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the two men were “not in a good place” but that Trump did not intend to move on Esper until voters have rendered their judgment on a second Trump term on Nov. 3.
Esper, a former Army secretary, is respected by Republicans and Democrats as a steady hand at the Pentagon during a turbulent administration that has seen Trump repeatedly draw the military into hot-button domestic political issues, including the border wall with Mexico.
But Trump was troubled by Esper’s opposition to invoking the Insurrection Act to deploy active-duty forces to quell civil unrest that broke out in June after the death of George Floyd, a Black man who was in police custody in Minneapolis.
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WNU Editor: Regardless on what happens after election day, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper's days are numbered.
