Trump administration removes senior defense officials and installs loyalists, triggering alarm at Pentagon

CNN ^ | November 10, 2020 | Barbara Starr, Zachary Cohen and Ryan Browne

[ransomnote]

Washington (CNN)The Trump administration has carried out sweeping changes atop the Defense Department's civilian leadership structure, removing several of its most senior officials and replacing them with perceived loyalists to the President.

The flurry of changes, announced by the Department of Defense in a statement roughly 24 hours after President Donald Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper, have put officials inside the Pentagon on edge and fueled a growing sense of alarm among military and civilian officials, who are concerned about what could come next.

Four senior civilian officials have been fired or have resigned since Monday, including Esper, his chief of staff and the top officials overseeing policy and intelligence. They were replaced by perceived Trump loyalists, including a controversial figure who promoted fringe conspiracy theories and called former President Barack Obama a terrorist.

A senior defense official told CNN late Tuesday that "it appears we are done with the beheadings for now," referring to the wave of ousted civilian leaders, including Esper.

 

Trump fires Secretary of Defense Mark Esper

 

But the moves will likely only add to the sense of chaos within the Pentagon following Trump's firing of Esper. The President jettisoned him two days after his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, was projected as the winner of the presidential election, a conclusion that Trump has refused to accept. Concerns are growing that a chaotic transition period could undermine national security.

While top officials have been dealing with Trump's unpredictable decision making since he took office, the current level of uncertainty has risen steadily since the election.

[pollywog]

POTUS going scorched Earth....before he goes scorched Earth :-)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank God!!

[a fool in paradise]

Get rid of Hitlery Rotten Clinton's own DAMNED loyalists. Her “Resistance”.

A mix of Communists and Globalists, brothers from different mothers.

[The Fop]

Wesley Clarke’s favourite song to dance to is Don’t Stop Believing by Journey..... I remember that from his short lived presidential campaign puff pieces.... My brain is filled with volumes of useless information like this LOL.... But it’s kind of funny thinking of him in uniform on a dance floor to this song

[LS]

Just spoke to a highly placed intel person.

“Did you find this unusual?”
A: “Everything about this election is unusual. We all thought he’d be gone before the election, but Trump thought it was ‘too political.’”
Q: But “if Trump believes he is gonna lose, why not let Esper ride it out?”
A: No response. “What’s your theory?”
Q: “That Trump thinks he’s gonna win, there will be civil unrest, and that he needs someone in he can trust.”
A: “Sounds pretty good to me.”

[a fool in paradise]

The real chaos comes when the party leadership and the DNCenemedia again tell their shock troops to go riot because they LOST their rigged election AGAIN.

[madison10]

I bet it is a whole bucket of whoopa$$.

[dayglored]

> Trump should have fired all the Obama holdovers and appointed his own loyal people years ago.

“Gotta get down to it... shoulda been done long ago...”

[tet68]

While top officials have been dealing with Trump’s unpredictable decision making since he took office,

Funny, his decisions haven’t been unpredictable to me.
I could have given him a few more that would have had
them scratching their heads!!1

[mmichaels1970]

They serve at the pleasure of the president. Last I checked he’s still President. Journalists are stupid.

[Mr. Jeeves]

The coup is here! Trump has become Pinochet! Run, Fredo, run - before he invites you on a helicopter ride! :)

[madison10]

Only problem this time is there is NOTHING stopping the President from sending in help.

[mmichaels1970]

Thank you! You’re one of the guys I trust.

[ThePatriotsFlag]

Why wasn’t this done on DAY 1?

[RummyChick]

here is a post from a conspiracy site. While the chance of this being a real post is likely nil....it is possible something similar might go down

“
Basically Trump won and right now we are in the deal making process. Essentially a small group of upper elites will be left alone but all the smaller fish getting thrown under the bus. Big people coming out of conference rooms in tears and freaking out. Lots of deals being made as people who previously thought themselves as immune are discovering they are not. Boss is also getting “disappeared” so I can post this and no one will care. Right now I’m on bathroom duty (code).

Look out for mentions of roses in the news in the next few days, it’s a signal that key elites have vanished. Roses is not intended to inform anyone in the MIC, but rather confirm their knowledge through their own medium in case of false intel.”

[rlmorel]

What? A purge?

Gee...from 2008 to 2016 there was a deliberate purge at all upper levels of the military.

Nobody except us said a thing about it.

[Arcadian Empire]

Replace every member of The Deep State with Trump loyalists.

Message to The Deep State:

You betrayed the wrong President.

Yippee-ki-yay, *************.

[little jeremiah]

Whoever is alarmed at the Pentagon also needs to be replaced.

[puppypusher]

If Secretary Esper was not meeting the Standards that the President of the United States set then he deserved to be terminated just like every other employee. Esper worked for the President not vice-Versa.

[Chgogal]

Bookmark

[MNDude]

Removes those the DS were relying on to remove Trump from power.