Trump news: President celebrates return of US Navy veteran detained in Iran amid bitter divide with top military officials
A schism among Donald Trump, the Pentagon and senior military officers has been laid bare after the president’s threat to use active-duty troops on American streets was undermined by members of his cabinet.
First, Mark Esper, the defence secretary, publicly made clear his opposition to using the 1807 Insurrection Act – which he said should be a “last resort” – and then Mark Milley, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and the country’s most senior military officer, sent a forceful memo to service personnel reminding them to “stay true” to the “idea that is America”.
The White House was said to be furious with Mr Esper, summoning him to the Oval Office after his press conference on Wednesday.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany insisted that the president was still willing to deploy federal troops, but she said he was currently satisfied with the performance of the National Guard in suppressing riots.
The president meanwhile celebrated the return of Michael White, a US Navy veteran detained in Iran, tweeting: "I will never stop working to secure the release of all Americans held hostage overseas!"
He also was criticised by Rev Al Sharpton, speaking at a memorial service for George Floyd, for the president's photo op in which he stood holding a bible after White House officials ordered protesters be cleared from the area by firing tear gas.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against the administration on Thursday for "unlawfully" conspiring to violate protesters' rights with a "coordinated and unprovoked charge into the crowd of demonstrators" before the president's walk through Lafayette Square to St John's Church.
Rev Sharpton said: "I would like him to open that bible, and I'd like him to read Ecclesiastes 3: 'To every season there's a time and a purpose.' It's our job to let the world know that when we see what's going on in the streets of this country and in Europe and around the world, you need to know what time it is. ... We can't use bibles as a prop. And for those that have agendas that are not about justice, this family will not let you use George as a prop."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi meanwhile has demanded that the president release a "full list of agencies involved and clarifications of the roles and responsibilities of the troops and federal law enforcement resources operating" in the nation's capital after reports surfaced of unidentified federal militarised law enforcement had descended on Washington DC and refused to identify themselves.
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