Pentagon chief Esper fired in what may be start of a purge

President Trump gave Defense Secretary Mark Esper the boot Monday, initiating what some in the administration fear could be a postelection purge of senior officials who’ve upset the outgoing commander-in-chief.

Trump, who’s refused to concede last week’s election despite Joe Biden’s decisive victory, announced the unceremonious axing of Esper (inset) over Twitter, saying the secretary would leave his post “immediately.”

Christopher Miller, the government’s top counterterrorism official, will take over Esper’s job on an acting basis, Trump said, sidestepping the Pentagon’s second-highest-ranking member, Deputy Defense Secretary David Norquist.

“Chris will do a GREAT job!” Trump tweeted. “Mark Esper has been terminated. I would like to thank him for his service.”

Esper did not offer a statement on his ouster, and a spokesman for the secretary declined to comment.

The Pentagon chief drew Trump’s ire in June when he came out against the president’s threat to use active-duty U.S. soldiers to crack down on racial justice protests.

Esper’s public break with the president enraged Trump, who’s known to value political loyalty over professional integrity, and he has reportedly told aides for months that he wanted the Pentagon honcho gone.

Esper’s exit may cause anxiety for other federal agency heads.

Trump has long suggested he wants to fire FBI Director Christopher Wray, who angered the president by testifying before Congress in September that there was no evidence to support Trump’s baseless claim that Democrats rigged the election against him by expanding access to mail-in voting. Trump has also privately expressed an urge to fire CIA Director Gina Haspel over what he views as her lack of loyalty, according to reports.

Adding to the worry, the White House instructed federal agencies Monday to fire any staffers who are looking for employment elsewhere while Trump refuses to accept election defeat.