A Sacred Oath: Memoirs of a Secretary of Defense During Extraordinary Times – An Instant New York Times Bestseller: A Pentagon Insider's Tumultuous Years Under President Trump

by Mark T. Esper

General Milley stopped by quickly. He walked in my office and shut the door behind him. “I can’t believe he fucking fired you,” he said. We had talked and joked about this often in the past—gallows humor—but now it was real. He was very angry and upset, saying, “This is complete bullshit” and “I can’t believe he did this.” He paced back and forth a couple of times, threatening to resign as well. I thanked him—we had been through a lot together over the years, and his emotions reflected the depth of our partnership—but I stood there and said, “You can’t do that. You’re the only one left now to hold the line. You have to stay.” It was true, and we both knew it. He had to be around to push back, “especially now that we are entering a particularly dangerous period,” I said. “You have to stay for the military, the institution, and the country.” He was steaming, though. Not just with the fact that Trump fired me, but also with the way he did it. I kept telling him “It’s fine,” that “I never expected the president to be magnanimous.” We had seen this movie too many times before with other people Trump dismissed. “I’m sorry about this,” he said, as reality settled in. I suspect the chairman was now feeling very exposed and isolated as well, with me heading out the door and a supposed Trump guy on the way in. He was going to be in a tough place for the next seventy days or so. I felt for him.