Trump fires Defense Secretary Mark Esper

The US president abruptly fired his defense secretary via Twitter after months of reports that Esper had fallen out of favor.

Jared Szuba
Jared Szuba
Nov 9, 2020
US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper meets with Bulgarian Minister of Defense Krasimir Karakachanov(not seen) at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on October 6, 2020. (Photo by JIM WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper meets with Bulgarian Minister of Defense Krasimir Karakachanov(not seen) at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on October 6, 2020. — JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images

US President Donald Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Monday, just two days after Trump failed to win reelection in the 2020 presidential race.

Trump announced on Twitter that Esper would be replaced with Christopher Miller, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center and former senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council.

The president said Miller would serve as acting defense secretary “effective immediately.”

“Mark Esper has been terminated. I would like to thank him for his service,” Trump wrote.

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