Trump Says he Has Fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper speaks at the White House as US President Donald Trump listens during the daily coronavirus response briefing, April 1, 2020. (Reuters)
US Defense Secretary Mark Esper speaks at the White House as US President Donald Trump listens during the daily coronavirus response briefing, April 1, 2020. (Reuters)
TT
20

Trump Says he Has Fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper speaks at the White House as US President Donald Trump listens during the daily coronavirus response briefing, April 1, 2020. (Reuters)
US Defense Secretary Mark Esper speaks at the White House as US President Donald Trump listens during the daily coronavirus response briefing, April 1, 2020. (Reuters)

US President Donald Trump said on Monday that he had “terminated” Defense Secretary Mark Esper, appearing to use his final months in office after his Nov. 3 election defeat to settle scores within his administration.

Trump, who publicly split with Esper in recent months over a range of issues, said on Twitter that Christopher Miller, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, will become acting secretary of defense. The Senate would be highly unlikely to confirm any new nominee before Trump leaves office in January.

“Mark Esper has been terminated,” Trump said on Twitter. “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.”

The Pentagon had no immediate comment.

Esper had long been preparing for the prospect of his resignation or dismissal following the Nov. 3 election, particularly if Trump were to win a second term in office, sources said.

Trump has steadfastly refused to acknowledge his election loss.

Esper angered Trump particularly by opposing Trump’s threat to use active duty troops to suppress street protests over racial injustice in the United States during the summer.

Esper also disagreed with Trump’s dismissive attitude toward the NATO alliance, sources said, according to Reuters.



6 Americans Detained for Trying to Send Rice and Bibles to North Korea by Sea

FILE - Neighborhoods of North Korea's Kaepoong village are seen from the observation post in Ganghwa, near the border with North Korea, South Korea, Feb. 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)
FILE - Neighborhoods of North Korea's Kaepoong village are seen from the observation post in Ganghwa, near the border with North Korea, South Korea, Feb. 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)
TT
20

6 Americans Detained for Trying to Send Rice and Bibles to North Korea by Sea

FILE - Neighborhoods of North Korea's Kaepoong village are seen from the observation post in Ganghwa, near the border with North Korea, South Korea, Feb. 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)
FILE - Neighborhoods of North Korea's Kaepoong village are seen from the observation post in Ganghwa, near the border with North Korea, South Korea, Feb. 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)

Six Americans were detained Friday in South Korea for trying to send 1,600 plastic bottles filled with rice, US dollars bills and Bibles toward North Korea by sea, police said.

The Americans tried to throw the bottles into the sea from front-line Gwanghwa Island so they could float toward North Korean shores by the tides, said a police officer who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak to media on the issue. According to The Associated Press, he said they are being investigated on allegations they violated the law on the management of safety and disasters.

A second South Korean police officer confirmed the detentions of the Americans.
The police officers gave no further details, including whether any of the six had made previous attempts to send bottles toward North Korea.

Activists floating plastic bottles or flying balloons carrying anti-North Korea propaganda leaflets across the border has long caused tensions on the Korean Peninsula. North Korea expressed its anger at the balloon campaigns by launching its own balloons carrying trash into South Korea, including at least two that landed in the presidential compound in Seoul last year.

In 2023, South Korea’s Constitutional Court struck down a 2020 law that criminalized the sending of leaflets and other items to North Korea, calling it an excessive restriction on free speech.

But since taking office in early June, the new liberal government of President Lee Jae Myung is pushing to crack down on such civilian campaigns with other safety-related laws to avoid a flare-up in tensions with North Korea and promote the safety of frontline South Korean residents.

On June 14, police detained an activist for allegedly flying balloons toward North Korea from Gwanghwa Island.

Lee took office with a promise to restart long-dormant talks with North Korea and establish peace on the Korean Peninsula. Lee's government halted frontline anti-Pyongyang propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts to try to ease military tensions. North Korean broadcasts have not been heard in South Korean front-line towns since then.

But it's unclear if North Korea will respond to Lee's conciliatory gesture after it vowed last year to sever relations with South Korea and abandon the goal of peaceful Korean reunification. Official talks between the Koreas have been stalled since 2019 when the US-led diplomacy on North Korean denuclearization derailed.