Trump Says Defense Secretary Mark Esper ‘Has Been Terminated’

President Donald Trump is announcing that he is replacing Defense Secretary Mark Esper, a little more than a year after he was confirmed to the position by the Senate.

In a tweet on Monday afternoon, Trump wrote, “I am pleased to announce that Christopher C. Miller, the highly respected Director of the National Counterterrorism Center (unanimously confirmed by the Senate), will be Acting Secretary of Defense, effective immediately.”

He added, “Chris will do a GREAT job! 👤Mark Esper has been terminated. I would like to thank him for his service.”

Esper was confirmed to the position by an overwhelming vote in the Senate in July 2019. He previously served as the Army secretary under Trump.

NBC News reported shortly after the election that Esper had drafted a resignation letter. However, the Pentagon denied the report, as IJR reported.

Jonathan Hoffman, the assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, said in a tweet, “The NBC story is inaccurate and misleading in many ways. To be clear, Secretary of Defense Esper has no plans to resign, nor has he been asked to submit a letter of resignation.”

“He continues to serve the nation as the Secretary of Defense at the pleasure of the President and is working on the irreversible implementation of the National Defense Strategy,” he added.

In August, it was reported that Trump was considering firing Esper if he did not win reelection.