Defense Secretary Mark Esper breaks with President Trump on the use of the military to quell the ongoing protests following the death of George Floyd.
Esper is facing the most politically charged crisis of his tenure, criticized for calling protester-filled streets a military “battle space” and accused of failing to keep the military out of politics.
At the same time, 11 months into the job, Esper is seeing his relationship with President Donald Trump tested by the storm over the police killing of George Floyd and Esper’s urging of caution in the use of military force.
#US Defense Secretary Mark Esper says that he doesn't back #Trump's threat to deploy the army to quell protests.#PENTAGON #USA #USprotests #USArmy #MarkEsper #protests2020 #BlackLivesMattter #BlackLivesMatter #InsurrectionAct #GeorgeFloydprotest #GeorgeFloyd pic.twitter.com/z7rIAE1AZb
— Annu Kaushik (@AnnuKaushik253) June 3, 2020
Esper shot down his idea of using active-duty troops to quell protests, but then reversed course and kept the 82nd Airborne Division on standby in the Washington, D.C., region. It was an extraordinary clash between the U.S. military and its commander in chief.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper angered Trump early Wednesday when he said he opposed using military troops for law enforcement.
After his subsequent visit to the White House, the Pentagon abruptly overturned an earlier decision to send a couple hundred active-duty soldiers home from the D.C. area.
