US President Donald Trump today sacked Defense Secretary Mark Esper, and appointed Christopher Miller, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, as acting defense minister, and Secretary Esper had prepared his resignation letter, according to US media.
"Mark Esper's service has been terminated," Trump said on Twitter. "I am pleased to announce that Christopher Miller - director of the National Counterterrorism Center (whose appointment was approved by the Senate unanimously) and widely respected - will be the acting secretary of defense with immediate effect.
Al-Jazeera correspondent in Washington, Wajd Waqfi, said that Minister Esper was not aware of the decision to dismiss him, because it was done through a tweet of Trump, according to what US media reported.
Christopher Miller becomes the fifth defense secretary in the Trump administration, meaning that on average every one of the previous four has spent less than a year in office.
- ZaidBenjamin (@ ZaidBenjamin5) November 9, 2020
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The correspondent added that Minister Esper prepared his resignation letter a few days ago, and when I asked the Ministry of Defense about this matter, it replied that it is a customary matter, which is for ministers in the US administration to prepare their resignation letters to leave the room for the president-elect to decide whether he will keep them or assign other personalities to their positions.
Commenting on Trump's decision, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy said that the dismissal of Esper "creates a dangerously unstable environment for national security in the transition period," referring to the transfer of power from Trump to President-elect Joe Biden.
It is noteworthy that there was tension in relations between Trump and Secretary Esper last June during the protests of the "Black Lives Matter" movement, as Trump threatened to send the army to the streets to stop protests against racism and police violence, but Esper announced his refusal to take down the army to quell the protests. This was the beginning of a crack in the relationship between the two men.
# Urgent / He tweeted # Trump announcing the dismissal of the second Defense Secretary - Mark Esper - he wrote his resignation book two days ago - due to disagreements since May and a lack of agreement between him and President Trump - and
thanked him for his work -!
And the appointment of Chris Miller, Acting Secretary of Defense, immediately!
Next FBI Director-Chris Weary!
This behavior is not preceded by the transition period!
pic.twitter.com/ZiiDlKOspi
- Abdullah Al Shayji (@docshayji) November 9, 2020
And the American Associated Press stated that it is the first time in the contemporary history of the United States that an American president has been dismissed as the defense minister after holding the presidential elections, and before he hands over power to the elected president.
Christopher Miller will be acting secretary until January 20, the fifth to take over the Defense Department under Trump after Gen. Jim Mattis, Patrick Shanahan, and Marine Commander Richard Spencer, who held the position for a short time pending Senate approval for Esper's nomination in July 2019. .