Donald Trump fires Defence Secretary Mark Esper, FBI and CIA directors may be next: report

US President Donald Trump has terminated his Defence Secretary Mark Esper and according to a report, the firing may not stop with just one official but the president may show the door to the FBI and CIA directors as well.

"Mark Esper has been terminated," tweeted Trump, talking about the defense secretary with whom he openly disagreed on how to tackle civil unrest in the US five months ago. "I would like to thank him for his service."

The American president took to Twitter to announce his replacement as well. "I am pleased to announce that Christopher C. Miller, the highly respected Director of the National Counterterrorism Center (unanimously confirmed by the Senate), will be Acting Secretary of Defense, effective immediately," he wrote.

Read more: Trump campaign’s ‘voter fraud hotline’ gets flooded with prank calls

Miller, who previously spent 31 years in the U.S. military, had been sworn in as the director of the National Counterterrorism Center in August. Before that, he had served as a policy official at the National Security Council.

The development comes in the midst of a divided America on the brink of a crisis, as the US president has refused to accept Joe Biden as the victor of the US election 2020 and has announced going to the courts to challenge the verdict.

'FBI and CIA are next'

The US president may not stop at firing the defence secretary only. A Trump administration official told CNBC’s Eamon Javers that “I assume FBI and CIA are next,” referring to FBI Director Christopher Wray and CIA Director Gina Haspel.

Esper had earned the US president's ire in June when the defence secretary said he did not support the invoking of the Insurrection Act, a law that requires the president to pull active-duty troops to quell civil unrest in the city aimed at police brutality.

Read more: Melania Trump waiting for Donald Trump to leave office so she can divorce him: report

“I say this not only as secretary of Defense, but also as a former soldier and a former member of the National Guard, the option to use active-duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort, and only in the most urgent and dire situations. We are not in one of those situations now,” Esper had said.

“I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act,” he had added.

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany had immediately responded to Esper's comments, saying that the US president only had the "sole authority" to invoke the measure. 

When asked whether Trump was angry at the comment, this is what the White House press secretary said: “I would say if he loses confidence in Secretary Esper I’m sure you all will be the first to know. As of right now, Secretary Esper is still Secretary Esper, and should the president lose faith, we will all learn about that in the future,”