Mark Esper was Donald Trump’s second defense minister. Like James Mathis, his predecessor, he fell by the grace of Trump. Six days after the 2020 election, the 45th president fired him via Twitter. Unlike Mathis, Esper now gives terrifying information about everything.
The sacred oath does not strike. He portrays Trump as unfit for office and a threat to democracy, a prisoner of anger, impulse and appetite.
Over 752 pages of Esper’s memoirs of the Minister of Defense during extraordinary times are surgically precise in settling the results. This is not just another book to be thrown at the stake of porn to avenge Trump’s alumni. It’s scary and sobering.
Esper graduated from West Point and is a veteran of the Gulf War. No one confuses him with Omarosa Manigolt Newman, Cliff Sims or Chris Christie. Esper ignores Trump adviser Kelian Conway and makes little mention of Melania Trump. He is a compliment to Jared Kushner.
In general, Esper did not like what he saw. Trump’s loyalty to the process was almost non-existent, his strategy “narrow and incomplete,” his “way” rude and divisive. The goals that Trump “often sought, rarely survived in the ways and means he usually pursued to achieve them.”
The book captures Trump’s anger when he advises him that General Mark Millie, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, does not have command authority over the active troops and National Guard troops that Trump wanted to deploy against protesters after the assassination of George Floyd.
“You are losers!” The president said. “You’re all fucking losers!”
In addition to Esper, Millie and William Barr, the attorney general, Trump also targeted Mike Pence.
Esper writes: “He repeated the bad insults again, this time directing his poison at the vice president, who was sitting quietly, stone-faced, in a chair at the far end of the semicircle, closest to the Rose Garden.
“I’ve never seen him shout at the vice president before, so it really caught my attention.
Espur explains why he did not resign: “I did not think this was the right thing for our country.”
His wife, Leah, introduced him as follows: “As your wife, please leave. As an American citizen, please stay. “
The government has tried to censor the Holy Oath, as did The Room Where It Happened, a memoir by John Bolton, Trump’s third national security adviser. Fortunately, the powers are limited after Esper filed a lawsuit in federal court. Here and there the words are obscured. The core of the story remains.
At one point, Trump suggested launching “missiles into Mexico to destroy drug labs.” The then president said, “No one will know it’s us.” He will simply deny responsibility. Esper looked at Trump. He was not joking.
Censors reportedly found it inflammatory. However, they did not deny its truth. Faced with the story, Trump issued “no comment.” Donald Trump Jr. asked if his father’s scheme was a “bad thing.” Hunter Biden is not the only troubled first son.
Relying on Trump’s subordinates to put their boss in front of the country also upset Esper. Mark Meadows, Stephen Miller, Robert O’Brien and Rick Grenell receive attention. The little one is good.
Esper found their war lattice. After meeting with Trump’s National Security Council, Esper told Millie’s lack of military experience and desire for war with Iran.
“We couldn’t help but notice the irony that only two people in the room who were once at war are the least likely to risk doing so now.”
Esper offers full protection for Trump’s decision to assassinate Kasem Suleimani. The Iranian general had American blood on his hands and was planning an attack on American diplomats and military personnel.
Esper also writes about the state of the union.
“I was worried about our democracy,” he said. “I saw a lot of red flags, a lot of warnings and a lot of inconsistencies. But now we looked on the verge of crossing a dark red line.
In the summer of 2020, the unrest that followed Floyd’s assassination brought Trump to the realm of Stygia. On the eve of the election, Esper feared that Trump would try to use the military to stay in office.
Esper met with Millie and General Daniel Hokanson, a general in charge of the National Guard, in an attempt to prevent this outcome.
“The essence of democracy was free and fair elections, followed by a peaceful transition to power,” Esper wrote.
After all, Trump does not rely on the military to deny the election results, a path advocated by Mike Flynn, his first national security adviser. Instead, the drama unfolded slowly. Until early January 2021, Millie told his associates that the United States was facing a “Reichstag moment” as Trump preached the “Fuhrer’s Gospel.”
On January 6, Trump and his servants unleashed an uprising.
“This was the heaviest attack on the Capitol since the War of 1812,” Esper wrote. “And perhaps the worst attack on our democracy since the civil war.
Yet Trump and Trumpism remain firmly on the ascendant. In Ohio, in the decisive Senate primary, Trump’s support for JD Vance proved crucial. In Pennsylvania, his support for Mehmet Oz may also be vital.
Down in Georgia, Herschel Walker, Trump’s chosen one, is on a slippery slope to the nomination. Walker’s clashes with domestic violence and death threats are not a problem for believers. Even Mitch McConnell, the leader of the Senate minority, joined.
A few days ago, Esper told the New York Times that Trump was “an unscrupulous person who, given his self-interest, should not be in public office.”
Most Republicans remain motionless. Esper is just an author. Trump is leading the movement.
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