Failed, one-term, twice-impeached former President Donald Trump had plans to fire Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and replace him with a toady who be amenable to the idea of the U.S. military being used for the purpose of keeping Trump in power with overwhelming force.
That startling revelation is found in the new book, Betrayal, written by ABC News White House correspondent Jonathan Karl, according to Max Boot of the Washington Post:
Karl … has unearthed a memorandum from Johnny McEntee, Trump’s director of presidential personnel, listing 14 reasons for ousting Esper. That document was dated Oct. 19, 2020. Three weeks later Esper was fired by a Trump tweet.
The very premise of McEntee’s memo was both sinister and ludicrous — a 30-year-old of no professional or intellectual distinction, whose path to power was carrying Trump’s bags, was making the case for getting rid of a senior Cabinet officer for insufficient loyalty to the president. This revealing and chilling document deserves to be read not as a historical curiosity but as a terrible portent of what could be in store if Trump wins another term. He appears determined to turn the military into his personal goon squad.
Yes, you read that correctly: McEntee and Trump were planning to give Esper the boot so that the megalomaniacal ex-president could turn the military into a personal protection force, even though that was never set forth by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution.
Boot goes on to note that if Trump had such a sinister plan in place during his first administration, he would definitely try the same thing again if he happens to run for the White House a second time in 2024 and win the election:
“The next time around, Trump would want to ensure that the ‘guys with guns’ are on his side. If he wins a second term, Trump’s next defense secretary (Johnny McEntee perhaps?) would almost certainly be somebody more devoted to him than to the Constitution. For anyone concerned about the future of U.S. democracy, that should be a cause of considerable alarm at a time when Trump and Biden are running almost neck and neck in polling matchups.”
What could be more terrifying than Donald Trump having the military to use as he pleases, including against his political enemies? It’s likely he would turn the United States into a banana republic, complete with him installed as dictator for life and using the armed forces to make those who disagree with him disappear.
If indeed Trump does run again, it would be wise for every American voter to contemplate a president with unchecked power and vote to make sure that never happens. Otherwise, we’ll all be living in a country with a government reminiscent of the one that took control in Germany during the 1930s.
