Trump told his defense secretary "I don't give a fuck" in a blowup over Floyd protests, a book says.
Secretary Mark Esper publicly shot down Trump's desire to invoke the Insurrection Act.
Trump yelled "you took away my authority" at Esper for opposing troops helping control protests.
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President Donald Trump exploded at then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper, yelling, "I don't give a fuck about your fucking transcript" after Esper threw cold water on his desire to quell protests with military force, according to a new book.
Bob Woodward and Robert Costa describe more details of profanity-laden blowups between Trump and top officials in the military in their forthcoming book "Peril," set to be published on September 21.
Trump was insistent on a strong military show of force in response to protests and civil unrest over the murder of George Floyd.
In particular, Trump wanted to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807, which would allow him to deploy troops to quash the protests. He especially wanted the elite 82nd Airborne Division (whose specialty is crisis response, often by parachuting into hostile areas — not civil disturbance and crowd control), a suggestion military leaders weren't keen to go along with.
Esper, in a press conference the day before, clearly stated his opposition to the idea, telling reporters that active-duty forces "should only be used as a matter of last resort, and in the most urgent and dire of situations."
"We are not in one of those situations now. I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act," he said.
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, according to the book, called Esper immediately afterward to tell him that Trump was "really pissed" and "is going to eat your face off."
Meadows' prediction came true the next day in a tense meeting at the Oval Office, when Trump unloaded on Esper, shouting, "Why did you do that?" and, "You took away my authority," the book says.
Esper said he wasn't trying to usurp Trump's authority and produced a physical transcript of his remarks, which enraged Trump more, the book adds.
"I don't give a fuck about your fucking transcript," Trump said, according to the book.
The book says Trump then yelled at the room: "You're all fucked up! Everybody! You're all fucked. Every one of you is fucked up." The book "I Alone Can Fix It," published in July, also includes this account.
Going into that meeting, both Esper and Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were resentful and somewhat shaken because Trump brought them along for his infamous walk across Lafayette Plaza to take a photo holding a Bible at the historic St. John's church. Moments before, federal agents cleared the plaza of peaceful protesters by beating them and firing smoke canisters and tear-gas agents.
Esper, when he fully realized what was going on, told Milley, who was dressed in his military fatigues, they had been "duped" and were being "used" as political pawns, contrary to the military's strictly nonpartisan mission, the book says.
Milley, the authors write, called it "fucked up," saying to his security lead, "We're getting the fuck out of here. I'm fucking done with this shit."
Shortly thereafter, Milley publicly apologized for his presence, saying he "should not have been there" and calling the episode "a mistake."
bjpens24 on September 17th, 2021 at 18:24 UTC »
All these reports of people opposing him or refusing him makes you wonder where would the US be if his appointed officials said yes
drowningfish on September 17th, 2021 at 16:50 UTC »
Yet another reason why 2024 is going to be very important. He cannot return. He has learned his lessons from the previous four years and will, imo, absolutely install people who will do what he wants.
He's even said just a month or so ago, something along the lines of, "I didn't realize then that the President actually controlled the Nation."
Give him the Office again, and we're done.
BumblesAZ on September 17th, 2021 at 16:46 UTC »
Trump wanted to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807, which would allow him to deploy troops to quash the protesters. He especially wanted the elite 82nd Airborne division (whose specialty is crisis response, often by parachuting into hostile areas — not civil disturbance and crowd control).