Following a series of high-profile conflicts, President Trump has terminated Defense Secretary Mark Esper and appointed Chris C Miller, head of the National Counterterrorism Center, as Acting Defense Secretary:
Secretary Esper gave an interview to the Military Times the day after the election indicating he would not follow any further orders from the administration. These public comments likely led to his removal.
Throughout the President’s first term in office politically-minded military flag officers have sought to undermine the administration effort to withdraw from global conflicts. During an interview with Bob Woodward, former Defense Secretary James Mattis admitted to plotting the overthrow of the U.S. government under Trump.
One of the more obvious exhibitions of the Pentagon outlook was in their support for Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman who attempted to frame a false impeachment effort because President Trump’s foreign policy did not align with the preferred intervention approach of the military industrial complex. {Go Deep}
