Mark Esper at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia
Credit: REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo
Donald Trump fired his defence secretary by tweet last night, indicating he would seek to settle scores with his own officials over the next few months.
The president wrote: "Mark Esper has been terminated. I would like to thank him for his service."
He announced that former special forces officer Christopher Miller, currently head of the National Counterterrorism Center, would become acting defence secretary.
Mr Esper, was Mr Trump’s fourth Pentagon chief in four years, and was fired after 16 months in the job.
Mr Trump was angered when Mr Esper resisted pressure to deploy troops to quash civil unrest in the wake of the death of George Floyd. He was also annoyed by the slow pace of the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan.
Mr Esper also disagreed with the president’s attitude toward the Nato alliance, and his position on renaming US military bases after Confederate generals. He had reportedly drafted a resignation letter weeks ago in anticipation of being terminated.
Other senior officials potentially in the firing line included Christopher Wray, the FBI Director, and Gina Haspel, the CIA Director.
Donald Trump flanked by Mark Esper and Mark Milley
Credit: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
Meanwhile, Mr Trump plans to encourage his supporters to hold rallies around the country, and to use obituaries of dead people he claims voted as he pursues his case that the election was "stolen" by Democrats.
The White House backtracked from an apparent initial plan for Mr Trump to hold campaign style rallies where he would read out the obituaries.
Officials suggested the president would not appear in person but there would be events like the Trump boat parades that took place during the campaign.
Mr Trump’s legal team indicated the court struggle could last a month as they exhaust all options in several states where the race was close.
December 8 is the deadline for resolving election disputes at the state level. All state recounts and court contests over presidential election results must be completed by that date.
A few senior Republicans, including former president George W Bush and former presidential nominee Mitt Romney, have congratulated Joe Biden. But the vast majority of the more than 50 Republican senators have not.
Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator, said Mr Trump should consider running again in 2024 if his legal battle proves unsuccessful.
Mr Graham said: "I would encourage him to think about doing it. Grover Cleveland came back. Donald Trump should think about it if he falls short."
2020 presidential campaigning (Trumps rallies have focussed on the rust belt)
Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate issued a statement on Friday, saying all votes should be counted, but remained silent throughout the weekend.
He has spoken to the president by phone. Mike Pompeo, Mr Trump’s secretary of state, did not answer when asked if he accepted that Mr Biden won.
A "voter fraud’ hotline set up by Mr Trump’s campaign for people to report incidents was inundated with prank calls mocking the president.
Eric Trump, the president’s son, wrote on Twitter that the Democrat National Committee was "spamming our voter fraud hotline to bog down the thousands of complaints we are receiving! Wonder what they have to hide."
Mr Trump’s team was redirecting campaign staff from around the nation to states where they plan to dispute results, including sending nearly 100 people from Florida to Georgia.
Conflicting reports have emerged of an internal split between aides over whether the president should concede.
But senior campaign adviser Jason Miller said that was "100 per cent false" and the word "concede" was "not even in our vocabulary".
Mr Miller said: ‘We believe in this recount scenario, we believe we have identified thousands of places where these ballots will get thrown out. This is a systemic issue. We are going to pursue everything we have in front of us."
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