The Defense Department had tried to stop Mark Esper from revealing that former president Trump had considered raining missiles on suspected drug cartels across the southern border into Mexico.
The Department knew of the plans recalled Esper as Trump told him to fire missiles at suspected drug cartel sites in Mexico to destroy their storage and labs. He reportedly told the secretary that the Mexican government had no control of their country.
When the Defense Secretary protested against the notion of such an attack on one of America’s closest allies, the then president suggested keeping the role of the US secret but going ahead with the attack.
Trump suggested shooting Patriot missiles, quietly destroying the labs. The former president was oblivious to the fact that Patriot missiles are used to bring down inward bound missiles and are not used for land strikes. Trump said that no one would realize.
The bizarre discussion is the last in a series of shocking revelations about the way Trump presided over the most powerful nation on earth. These anecdotes are taken from Espers’ forthcoming memoir of the White House and his days in the Defense Department. The book was in the stands on Tuesday. The former president has yet to respond to the book.
Esper also said that Trump made an abrupt decision to send a quarter million troops to the Mexican border to challenge what he alleged was a caravan consisting of thousands of illegal migrants.
Esper Alleged That The Defense Department Improperly Withheld Information
The Defense Department tried hard to prevent Esper from revealing the facts about Trump’s plans. This particular passage describing the incident was the one major point of contention between Esper and the Defense Department.
The resistance over the passage led Esper to finally sue the Defense Department that he once led before he was abruptly dismissed by Trump. Esper accused the agency of improper censorship.
The Defense Department did not dispute the reporting of the book. But a spokesperson said that protocols were followed before the book was allowed to be published, explaining the long and inordinate delay.
Books concerning the Defense Department are submitted to the agency to ensure that sensitive information is not revealed. Esper said that the process was unnecessarily delayed under the pretext of classification.
