“The option to use active-duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort and only in the most urgent and dire of situations. We are not in one of those situations now. I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act now,” Esper said at a news conference. Esper also said, “I do everything I can to stay apolitical.”
The comments came after Esper’s much-criticized statement to NBC News that he was not aware of Trump’s intentions when the Pentagon chief joined the president for a photo-op at St. John’s Episcopal Church on Monday after the forcible clearing of peaceful protesters near the White House.
The latest remarks suggested that Esper was consciously distancing himself from Trump, even though the New York Times reported on Tuesday that the defense secretary had himself advocated for the invocation of the 1807 Insurrection Act to deploy active-duty forces. Esper also prompted criticism by calling on governors to “mass and dominate the battlespace” in reference to containing rioters.
Looking somber behind the podium at the Pentagon, Esper gave his first public response on Wednesday to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody, a full nine days after the killing sparked nationwide protests. Appearing to finesse the narrative around the heavily criticized photo-op outside of St. John’s, the Pentagon chief said he knew that Trump had planned the walk from the White House to the church but was unaware of any clearing of demonstrators from the park in-between.
“I did know that following the president’s remarks on Monday evening that many of us were going to join President Trump and review damage at Lafayette Park and at St. John’s Episcopal Church,” Esper told reporters. “What I was not aware of was exactly where we were going when we arrived at the church, and what the plans were once we got there.”
“There’s a political tone to this,” Esper acknowledged. “This is a challenge for every Department of Defense during an election year.” In a memo sent to Pentagon civilians and military members on Tuesday night, he called on the agency “to stay apolitical in these turbulent days,” amid concerns that Trump is leveraging a possible military deployment to quell protests and appeal to his voter base ahead of the November election.
Esper insisted that Milley, who was criticized for joining the walk in his battle dress, was wearing the “appropriate uniform” for reviewing troops, which is what the defense secretary thought would occur on the walk through Lafayette Square, and he said that Park Police had not used rubber bullets or tear gas to clear the area, contradicting several eyewitness reports.
But the scenes of the past week have raised concerns that the Trump administration is using the Defense Department in an increasingly political light.
The comments came after Esper’s much-criticized statement to NBC News that he was not aware of Trump’s intentions when the Pentagon chief joined the president for a photo-op at St. John’s Episcopal Church on Monday after the forcible clearing of peaceful protesters near the White House.
The latest remarks suggested that Esper was consciously distancing himself from Trump, even though the New York Times reported on Tuesday that the defense secretary had himself advocated for the invocation of the 1807 Insurrection Act to deploy active-duty forces. Esper also prompted criticism by calling on governors to “mass and dominate the battlespace” in reference to containing rioters.
Looking somber behind the podium at the Pentagon, Esper gave his first public response on Wednesday to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody, a full nine days after the killing sparked nationwide protests. Appearing to finesse the narrative around the heavily criticized photo-op outside of St. John’s, the Pentagon chief said he knew that Trump had planned the walk from the White House to the church but was unaware of any clearing of demonstrators from the park in-between.
“I did know that following the president’s remarks on Monday evening that many of us were going to join President Trump and review damage at Lafayette Park and at St. John’s Episcopal Church,” Esper told reporters. “What I was not aware of was exactly where we were going when we arrived at the church, and what the plans were once we got there.”
“There’s a political tone to this,” Esper acknowledged. “This is a challenge for every Department of Defense during an election year.” In a memo sent to Pentagon civilians and military members on Tuesday night, he called on the agency “to stay apolitical in these turbulent days,” amid concerns that Trump is leveraging a possible military deployment to quell protests and appeal to his voter base ahead of the November election.
Esper’s turn at the podium prompted reports, first broken by Bloomberg, that Defense Secretary Mark Esper was on thin ice with Trump for pushing back on the use of the Insurrection Act. But administration officials indicated that Esper’s job would be safe for now, while stopping far short of a full-throated endorsement of the Pentagon chief’s job performance. “As of right now Secretary Esper is Secretary Esper,” White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said on Wednesday, adding that Trump has “the sole authority” to invoke the Insurrection Act.
But the Defense Department has spent much of the week creating space from Trump’s response to the protests. A defense official also appeared to walk back the Pentagon’s involvement in Monday’s scene yesterday, telling reporters at the Pentagon that Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley were unaware that they would join Trump for the walk and that the visit was a surprise.
But the scenes of the past week have raised concerns that the Trump administration is using the Defense Department in an increasingly political light.
