Outgoing president Donald Trump has tweeted that he has fired Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and appointed Chris Miller to be the fifth person to hold the position during Trump’s only term in office. (Esper previously held the position as an acting secretary for 21 days in July 2019.)
…Chris will do a GREAT job! Mark Esper has been terminated. I would like to thank him for his service.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 9, 2020
Like many others, Esper had gotten on the wrong side of Trump for taking independent actions, like removing the Confederate flag from the list of approved decorations in DoD offices and military bases, as well as putting into motion the process to rename military bases that were named after Confederate leaders.
This is Trump’s first official action since Election Night. Other than two campaign-related statements made from the White House, Trump has tweeted scores of times and played golf twice.