Trump had urged governors to call out the National Guard to contain protests that turned violent and warned that he could send in active duty military forces if they did not.
Esper angered Trump when he said he opposed using military troops for law enforcement,seemingly taking the teeth out of thePresident's threat to use the Insurrection Act. Esper said the 1807 law should be invoked"only in the most urgent and dire of situations."
He added,"We are not in one of those situations now."
After Esper's visit to the White House,the Pentagon abruptly overturned an earlier decision to send a couple hundred active-duty soldiers home from the Washington,DC,region,a public sign of the growing tensions with the White House. That reversal was reversed on Thursday.
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Former Secretary Mattis,a retired Marine general,lambasted both Trump and Esper in an essay inThe Atlantic for their consideration of using the active- duty military in law enforcement - and for the use of the National Guard in clearing out a largely peaceful protest near the White House on Monday evening.
"We must reject any thinking of our cities as a'battlespace'that our uniformed military is called upon to'dominate,"'Mattis wrote,referencing quotes by Esper and Trump respectively.
"Militarising our response,as we witnessed in Washington,DC,sets up a conflict - a false conflict - between the military and civilian society."
Trump responded on Twitter by calling Mattis"the world's most overrated General,"adding:"I didn't like his'leadership'style or much else about him,and many others agree,Glad he is gone!"
Yet another former military leader,retired Marine Corps four-star general Allen,said that events on Monday,the day Trump walked to the church,"may well signal the beginning of the end of the American experiment."
Allen,president of the liberal-leaning Brookings Institution,contrasted the routing of the protesters in Lafayette Park with remarks by Floyd's brother,Terrence Floyd,who denounced looting that he said tarnishes his brother's memory.
Writing inForeign Policy,Allen urged people to make their votes in November for the future of America's democracy."It will have to come from the bottom up. For at the White House,there is no one home,"he wrote.
Then,on Thursday,Alaska Senator Murkowski said she was"really thankful"for Mattis'comments. She said she thought his"words were true and honest and necessary and overdue."
"I felt like perhaps we're getting to the point where we can be more honest with the concerns that we might hold internally,and have the courage of our own convictions to speak up,"she said. Asked if she could support Trump for reelection,she said,"I am struggling with it."
Days ago,Esper had ordered about 1300 Army personnel to military bases outside the nation's capital as Trump weighed whether to invoke the Insurrection Act and send active-duty troops into the city,where the scene of large protests that devolved into violence and looting over the weekend.
Press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the president was still willing to deploy federal troops despite Esper's comments:"If needed,he will use it,"she told reporters.
Meanwhile,the President was taking credit for the deployment of federal and other law enforcement officers to the nation's capital,saying it offered a model to states on how to stop violence accompanying some protests nationwide.
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Though the crackdown on the Washington demonstrations was praised by some Trump supporters,a handful of Republicans expressed concern that law enforcement officers risked violating the protesters'First Amendment rights.
Trump had been furious about images juxtaposing fires set in the park outside the executive mansion with a darkened White House in the background,according to current and former campaign and administration officials. He was also angry about the news coverage revealing he had gone to the secure White House bunker during Friday's protests.
Trump acknowledged he visited the bunker but claimed he was only conducting an inspection as protests raged outside.
Reuters,AP