The New York Times reports:
President Donald J. Trump in 2020 asked Mark T. Esper, his defense secretary, about the possibility of launching missiles into Mexico to “destroy the drug labs” and wipe out the cartels, maintaining that the United States’ involvement in a strike against its southern neighbor could be kept secret, Mr. Esper recounts in his upcoming memoir.
Those remarkable discussions were among several moments that Mr. Esper described in the book, “A Sacred Oath,” as leaving him all but speechless when he served the 45th president.
Mr. Esper, the last Senate-confirmed defense secretary under Mr. Trump, also had concerns about speculation that the president might misuse the military around Election Day by, for instance, having soldiers seize ballot boxes. He warned subordinates to be on alert for unusual calls from the White House in the lead-up to the election.
Read the full article.
Donald Trump asked his then-defense secretary, Mark Esper, about the possibility of launching missiles into Mexico to “destroy the drug labs” and wipe out the cartels, Esper said in his upcoming memoir. https://t.co/HsaD7M1GQX
— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 5, 2022
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NYT:
That would be a “war crime,” Mr. Esper shot back.
Mr. Miller flatly denied the episode and called Mr. Esper “a moron.”
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) May 5, 2022
Addendum: this reminds me of the apocryphal story about General “Blackjack” Pershing that Trump would tell. https://t.co/2YT32dMw1U
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) May 5, 2022