Trump Fires Defense Chief Esper

Washington, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th Nov, 2020 ) :Donald Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Monday, further unsettling a government facing uncertainty over the US president's refusal to concede election defeat to Democrat Joe Biden.

Coming with just 10 weeks left in his White House tenure, the move heightened concerns that Trump might take aim at other national security officials with whom he has expressed disappointment.

According to multiple reports, he is also believed to be considering dismissing FBI Director Chris Wray and CIA Director Gina Haspel, angered that they did not support his battle for reelection.

The Washington Post reported that Trump had already removed the official in charge of the program that produces the government's climate change reports, a move that would allow him to be replaced by someone with views closer to Trump's skepticism about global warming.

Esper's firing drew warnings from senior politicians and former officials to not further destabilize the government.

Senator Mark Warner, the senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he was "deeply troubled" by Esper's removal.

"The last thing that our country needs is additional upheaval in the institutions designed to protect our national security," Warner said in a statement.

"President Trump must not invite further volatility by removing any Senate-confirmed intelligence or national security officials during his time left in office," he said.

Retired admiral James Stavridis, the former NATO supreme allied commander, said that Trump is "playing with fire with our nation's security.""If Trump moves on to fire the head of the CIA and the head of the FBI, both true professionals and patriots, we are going to be in uncharted waters for the next 90 days," Stavridis wrote on Twitter.