Better late than never, as the saying goes.
Mark Esper, Secretary of Defense under former Republican President Donald Trump, is the latest former Trump associate to turn on him and Esper is no longer mincing words.
Asked point blank if he considers Trump "a threat to our democracy," Esper emphatically agreed. He did so on Fox News, of all places, pivoting on the network's Bret Baier to ask him "what else can you conclude?" given Trump's conduct.
It's just the latest in a series of explosive interviews Esper has given—while promoting his forthcoming memoir—that have been uncharacteristically blunt for former Trump insiders. Trump is of course lashing out in response.
See a clip of Esper's discussion with Baier below.
\u201cDo you think Donald Trump was a threat to democracy?\u201dpic.twitter.com/TRM5yKlNdS— Acyn (@Acyn) 1652134674
Esper appeared on Fox News to promote his forthcoming book A Sacred Oath: Memoirs of a Secretary of Defense During Extraordinary Times, which makes a number of shocking and scathing claims about the former President.
Asked by Baier if he thinks Trump was a threat to our democracy, Esper not only answered in the affirmative but shifted the question into the present tense.
He told Baier:
"I think that, given the events of 6 January, given how he has undermined the election results, he incited people to come to DC, stirred them up that morning, and failed to call them off--to me, that threatens our democracy..."
"What else can you conclude, Bret?"
Esper's comments follow an interview with 60 Minutes on Sunday that gave a truly chilling glimpse into just how unhinged the Trump White House was.
Esper told CBS' Norah O'Donnell that Trump wanted to open fire on anti-racism protestors in 2020 and to bomb Mexico to destroy drug labs and cartels. While Trump called the former accusation "fake news," he has not denied the latter, to which he replied "no comment."
Trump, of course, has been publicly lashing out at Esper in the wake of the interview, claiming in a written response to CBS he ran the military himself because of how "weak" and "totally ineffective" Esper was.
When asked for comment on this interview, the office of former President Donald Trump provided the following statement to 60 Minutes. https://cbsn.ws/3KUMFUa\u00a0pic.twitter.com/MZUCrfxgha— 60 Minutes (@60 Minutes) 1652051880
He also insulted Esper personally, saying:
"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.'"
"He was a lightweight and figurehead, and I realized it very early on."
On Twitter, many were left unimpressed by Esper's comments, feeling they amounted to too little, too late.
If only you were in a position to warn the American people and do something about him. Oh, wait. you were. but instead you chose to wait to cash in on the book, instead of doing the right thing.— Rob the Resister #VoteBlue22 (@Rob the Resister #VoteBlue22) 1652136188
Has any \u201cjournalist\u201d asked any of these people why they waited to come forward until the book was written? Or how about, did they go to anyone with this information?\n\nIs this negotiated ahead of time that they can\u2019t be asked?— Scarlet \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 \ud83d\udc99 \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Scarlet \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 \ud83d\udc99 \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1652135320
I think we all knew that but he chose to ignore it. For his book— Roberta \ud83c\udf34\ud83c\udfc4\ud83c\udffd\u200d\u2640\ufe0f (@Roberta \ud83c\udf34\ud83c\udfc4\ud83c\udffd\u200d\u2640\ufe0f) 1652134800
Trump's Defense Secretary says he is a threat to democracy. Didn't he have a duty to warn the American people at the time?https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1523789385937739776\u00a0\u2026— Kelly \u30c4\ud83d\udef9 (@Kelly \u30c4\ud83d\udef9) 1652151856
Once again, this is a stunning public admission, by a "principal officer" of an "executive department," that he completely failed to fulfill his oath of office, instead choosing to keep information private so he could sell books.\n\nhttps://twitter.com/mcopelov/status/1522342759952228362?s=20&t=eWdJR1zqK69Ew1zSo8xhhg\u00a0\u2026https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1523789385937739776\u00a0\u2026— Mark Copelovitch (@Mark Copelovitch) 1652158364
But the extraordinary nature of such a high-level official turning on Trump wasn't lost on everyone.
Many applauded Esper's and other officials' efforts toward moderating Trump's worst impulses.
i know we're numb but it's pretty remarkable for a former defense secretary to describe a president he worked for as a threat to democracyhttps://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1523789385937739776\u00a0\u2026— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1652135661
Please keep speaking out! We need Justice. \nEsper did more than some others. We knew he would be fired before it happened. Things could have been much worse. #NeedJustice— \ud83c\udf3b Justice Matters \u2696\ud83c\udf1f\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@\ud83c\udf3b Justice Matters \u2696\ud83c\udf1f\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1652135067
I'm shocked FOX actually did this interview and let him on to say this.https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1523789385937739776\u00a0\u2026— Cheri Jacobus (@Cheri Jacobus) 1652143975
Putting slow timing aside, we now have both of Trump's Defense Secretaries saying this, both of his Attorneys General, a Secretary of State, a Chief of Staff/DHS Sec and another DHS Sec.https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1523789385937739776\u00a0\u2026— Rory Cooper (@Rory Cooper) 1652140586
Esper also told Baier he hopes his former boss does not run again in 2024 and the GOP "can figure out... there are other candidates out there..."
Here's hoping.
The Washington Post
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South Korean President Lee Jae Myung presenting U.S. President Donald Trump with honors and gifts at the Gyeongju National Museum in Gyeongju on October 29, 2025.Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
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