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President Donald Trump has announced the termination of Mark Esper as Secretary of Defense, effective immediately.
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Mark Esper has been replaced by President Donald Trump as United States Secretary of Defense, after just over a year in the role.
President Trump made the announcement on Twitter, revealing Esper had been “terminated”, before thanking him for his service.
This comes amid reports of a falling out between President Trump and the former Secretary of Defense.
Director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), Christopher Miller, has been appointed as acting Secretary of Defense.
President Trump expressed confidence in the new appointee, who was unanimously confirmed by the Senate for his role as director of the NCTC.
Following the announcement, former secretary Esper said he was proud of his achievements in the role, noting efforts to modernise the military through the National Defense Strategy and the support provided to veterans and their families.
“As such, I am confident the Defense Department’s progress on all of these initiatives has improved the security of the United States and advanced our interests abroad,” he said.
“I am particularly proud of these accomplishments in light of the challenges we faced along the way: a global pandemic; confrontations with Iran and its proxies throughout the Middle East; continued deployment of troops into conflict zones; domestic civil unrest; malign behaviour globally by Russia and China; and a charged political atmosphere here at home.
“Through thick and thin, however, we have always put people and country first.”
Esper added: “While I step aside knowing that there is much more we could accomplish together to advance America’s national security, there is much achieved in the time we had to improve the readiness, capabilities and professionalism of the joint force while fundamentally transforming and preparing it for the future.”
[Related: US defies China, approves $600m arms sale to Taiwan]
