I warned national guard of possible coup, Trump defense secretary says

Mark Esper writes in new memoir of how worried he was that Trump would try to use US military to hold on to power

A week before election day 2020, the US secretary of defense was so worried that Donald Trump would seek to involve the military in the election in an attempt to hold on to power, he told the general commanding the US national guard to notify him of any communication from anyone at all at the White House.

Without being too explicit," Mark Esper writes in a new memoir, my message was clear: the US military was not going to get involved in the election, no matter who directed it. I would intercede."