Pentagon chief Mark Esper risks being sidelined as White House floats replacements
- The defence secretary’s job is likely safe, but the White House is still looking at options
- Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy could be next in line if Esper does flame out
This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Lara Seligman, Daniel Lippman and Meridith McGraw on politico.com on June 4, 2020
Esper’s future is in question after he opposed Trump on Wednesday over the president’s call to deploy active-duty troops to quash protests taking part throughout the US. In the 24 hours since Esper spoke out, he has met with the president at the White House and has received tepid-at-best endorsements from Trump’s team.
But instead of being shown an early exit, one person in the administration said, Esper could just face an icing out. It’s a fate that has befallen numerous aides and Cabinet secretaries who cross Trump, from former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, to national security advisers H.R. McMaster and John Bolton, to every former chief of staff. Weeks or months before each aide actually departed the administration, Trump simply cut them out of key decisions after growing frustrated with them.
Sidelining advisers who disagree with him is Trump’s “M.O.” said Guy Snodgrass, who was chief speech-writer for former Defence Secretary James Mattis. “It sometimes happens just because President Trump wants that individual to feel that that’s an untenable position and they should depart on their own as opposed to him firing them.”
The White House has notably not jumped to Esper’s defence in the past day. When asked on Thursday whether Trump had lost confidence in the Defence Secretary, White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley was non-committal.