Source: WASHINGTON (AP) -- Tensions between the White House and Pentagon have stretched to near a breaking point over President Donald Trump's threat to use military force against street protests triggered by George Floyd's death.
Calm may return, both in the crisis over Floyd's death and in Pentagon leaders' angst over Trump's threats to use federal troops to put down protesters.
Brooks, a recently retired Army four-star general, says this "sacred trust" has been breached by Trump's threat to commit active-duty troops for law enforcement in states where he deems a governor has not tough enough against protesters.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper has made known his regret at having accompanied Trump to a presidential photo opportunity in front of a church near the White House.
Esper two days later risked Trump's ire when he stepped before reporters at the Pentagon to declare his opposition to Trump invoking the two-centuries-old Insurrection Act. That law allows a president to use the armed forces "as he considers necessary" when "unlawful obstructions ...
Esper said plainly that he saw no need for such an extreme measure, a clear counterpoint to Trump's threat to use force.
On Saturday, the White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, said Trump "remains confident" in Esper.
After a night of sometimes violent protesting in Washington last Sunday, Esper pulled several active-duty units, including a military police battalion, to bases just outside the nation's capital.
Esper made matters worse by saying, in a conference call earlier that day with governors, that they should use their National Guard troops to dominate the "battlespace," a term widely interpreted by critics as suggesting street protesters should be treated like battlefield enemies.
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