Former President Donald Trump hit back at Mark Esper, his onetime secretary of defense, as a “lightweight” and Republican in name only but did not deny bombshell allegations that he wanted to shoot racial justice protesters or fire missiles at drug targets in Mexico.
The ex-president accused Esper of keeping quiet about Trump’s more outlandish suggestions because he was an eager-to-please rubber stamp.
“Mark Esper was a stiff who was desperate not to lose his job. He would do anything I wanted, that’s why I called him ‘Yesper,’” Trump said in a statement to CBS News, which aired an interview Sunday with Esper on “60 Minutes.”