Trump may fire heads of the CIA and FBI: Report
US President Donald Trump's decision to abruptly fire his defense secretary has raised fears that he will remove other key national security officials in the wake of the disputed presidential election.
Trump's unnerving refusal to concede defeat to Joe Biden after his Democrat rival was declared as the winner of the disputed vote by media caused jitters in Washington.
Trump's decision on Monday to fire Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who had already wrote his resignation, made the already tense situation worse.
The president had lost favor in Esper after the Pentagon Chief refused to deploy active-duty military troops to crackdown on pro-justice protesters in American cities following the police killing of George Floyd.
However, with just 10 weeks left to the end of his four-year term in office, Trump's decision to fire Esper shortly after Biden was projected to have won the presidential election, strengthened earlier speculations that the lame duck president's next move will be to fire FBI Director Christopher Wray and CIA Director Gina Haspel.
Analysts described the speculated removal of two experienced security hands, who like Esper, had displeased Trump by resisting some of his demands. as an effort to seize total power over the US military and intelligence apparatus.
Meanwhile, the former secretary of Defense said he was concerned that his replacement could be a "yes man".
In an interview published on Monday, Esper said “God help us” if my replacement turns out to be “a real yes man”.
Esper warned this would further deteriorate the country's dire situation following the disputed November 3 election exasperated by Trump's racism and divisive rhetoric and the coronavirus crisis.
Christopher Miller, the former director of the National Counterterrorism Center, was encouraged by Trump as the acting secretary of Defense in the same tweet Esper was terminated.
...Chris will do a GREAT job! Mark Esper has been terminated. I would like to thank him for his service.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 9, 2020
Trump had assured his supporters repeatedly that he will not abide by the results of the presidential election if it goes against him.
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