After the US Secretary of Defense Esper was sacked by President Trump, three officials including James Anderson, the acting deputy secretary in charge of policy, resigned on the 10th.
The American media believes that the current government’s term of office is coming to an end, and it is unusual for important departments to change blood rapidly, and it is Trump cronies who fill the vacancies .
On November 9, Trump fired Esper and appointed Christopher Miller, director of the National Counter-Terrorism Center, as the acting secretary of defense. Miller took office less than 24 hours, in charge of policy Acting Deputy Minister An Desen submitted his resignation.
The Associated Press reported that Joseph Kernan, the deputy secretary of intelligence, resigned later . Another senior official who resigned was Jane Stewart, director of the minister’s office . Anderson’s position was replaced by retired Brigadier General Anthony Tata.
Tata was nominated this summer as the Deputy Minister for Policy in the Ministry of Defense, but was opposed by both parties in Congress. He often appeared on TV media and firmly defended Trump. His past remarks have repeatedly caused controversy. He once identified former Democratic President Obama as a “terrorist.”
The vacancies for Kernan and Stewart were filled by Ezra Cohen-Vatnik and Cash Patel, who had served on the National Security Council of the White House. Cohen Watnick played for Trump’s first national security assistant, Michael Flynn. Patel was previously the senior director of the National Security Council in charge of anti-terrorism affairs. According to government officials, his working relationship with Miller was “very close.”
A person familiar with the matter told CNN on the 10th that after the White House dismissed Esper, it seemed to focus on “pursuing” many of its deputy ministers because Esper and his team had previously opposed Trump’s premature withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.
According to CNN’s analysis, Trump may ignore the military’s proposal to push for the withdrawal of US troops in Afghanistan before Christmas, and may also dispatch active-duty troops to respond to domestic anti-racism demonstrations.
