President Donald Trump on Monday said he fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper, after months of speculation that Esper was on his way out for defying the president on several occasions.
In a pair of tweets, Trump announced that Christopher Miller, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, will serve as acting defense secretary.
“Mark Esper has been terminated,” the president tweeted. “I would like to thank him for his service.”
Miller is an Army Special Forces veteran who served in the White House and Pentagon before taking over the counterterror agency earlier this year. He supports the assertive use of U.S. power abroad against a range of targets, from terror groups like the Islamic State and al Qaeda to nations like Iran. | 
