A group of West Point alumni slam Trump administration’s politicization of U.S. military ahead of graduation

Following a June 1 Rose Garden speech, Trump posed with a Bible outside St. John’s Episcopal Church after protesters were forcibly cleared from Lafayette Square across from the Executive Mansion.

Before the photo op, Trump stopped short of invoking the Insurrection Act but threatened to deploy active-duty U.S. military if states failed to quell demonstrations. He then walked out to St. John’s with Milley, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and other members of the Cabinet, including Attorney General William Barr.

Trump stood in front of the historic St. John’s Church holding a Bible and posed for photographs. He later motioned to members of his Cabinet to stand alongside him for more pictures.

A week ago, Esper publicly broke with Trump during a Pentagon press briefing by saying he did not support invoking the Insurrection Act — a law that would allow the president to use active-duty forces to respond to civil unrest stemming from protests against police brutality.

“I say this not only as secretary of Defense, but also as a former soldier and a former member of the National Guard, 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 situations. We are not in one of those situations now,” Esper said on June 3.

“I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act,” he added.

Hours later, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany gave a lukewarm endorsement of Esper when asked about the daylight between Trump and his Defense secretary.

McEnany responded by saying that Trump has the “sole authority” to move forward with the Insurrection Act. “If he chooses to use it he will do it,” she said of the measure.

“As of right now, Secretary Esper is still Secretary Esper, and should the president lose faith, we will all learn about that in the future,” McEnany added.

On the heels of Esper’s comments, Trump nearly fired the Pentagon chief, but was talked out of it, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, citing officials.

Trump consulted with several advisors about his intention to fire Esper, his fourth defense secretary, according to the report. The president decided not to immediately fire Esper after talking with confidants, including White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and James Inhofe, R., Okla.

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/13/west-point-alumni-slam-trump-administrations-politicization-of-us-military.html