- Published Nov. 11, 2020Updated Nov. 16, 2020
WASHINGTON —
President Trump’s abrupt installation of a group of hard-line loyalists into senior jobs at the Pentagon has elevated officials who have pushed for more aggressive actions against
Iran and for an imminent withdrawal of all
American forces from Afghanistan over the objections of the military.
Mr. Trump made the appointments of four top Pentagon officials, including a new acting defense secretary, this week, leaving civilian and military officials to interpret whether this indicated a change in approach in the final two months of his presidency.
At the same time, Mr. Trump named Michael Ellis as a general counsel at the National Security Agency over the objections of the director, Gen. Paul M. Nakasone.
Jan 4, 2021, 5:39 AM
Nearly a dozen former defense secretaries wrote a
Washington Post op-ed article that was published Sunday warning President Donald Trump against trying to use the military to dispute the 2020 US election.
The article, titled "Involving the military in election disputes would cross into dangerous territory," was signed by all 10 living former US defense secretaries, including two — Mark Esper and James Mattis — who served under President Donald Trump.
The other signees were Leon Panetta, Chuck Hagel, and Ashton Carter, who served under Barack Obama; Robert Gates, who served under Obama and George W. Bush; William Cohen and William Perry, who served under Bill Clinton; Dick Cheney, who served under George H.W. Bush; and Donald Rumsfeld, who served first under Gerald Ford in 1975 and was later tapped for the role under George W. Bush.