Former US president, Donald Trump proposed ‘quietly’ launching missiles into Mexico to take out drug labs run by cartels, his former Defense Secretary, Mark Esper has claimed in his new book.
Esper, who worked for Trump from July 2019 to November 2020, is publishing his new book on Tuesday, May 10, and describes Trump as ‘an unprincipled person who, given his self-interest, should not be in the position of public service.’
Esper, in an extract obtained by The New York Times, recounts a discussion with Trump about Mexican drug cartels.
He said Trump who was angry that drugs were pouring into the U.S. across the southern border, asked Esper at least twice if the military could ‘shoot missiles into Mexico to destroy the drug labs.’
Esper said Trump was dismissive of Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, and told him: ‘They don’t have control of their own country.’
Esper said he objected to Trump’s idea, but Trump replied: ‘We could just shoot some Patriot missiles and take out the labs, quietly,’ adding that ‘no one would know it was us.’
According to the book, Trump said he would just say that the United States had not conducted the strike.
Esper said he initially believed Trump was joking, until he saw his face.
Esper, 58, was fired by a tweet by Trump in November 2020, with Trump saying he had been ‘terminated’ just after he lost the election to Joe Biden
According to The New York Times, Esper wrote that Trump was emboldened and more erratic after his first impeachment, in December 2019.
On May 9, 2020, Trump behaved so erratically during a meeting about China with the Joint Chiefs of Staff that one officer confided in Esper he had begun researching about the 25th Amendment.
Esper concluded by saying he personally never felt that Trump’s behavior rose to the level of using the 25th amendment.
