Donald Trump’s former Pentagon chief just dropped a bombshell about the president’s inner circle. Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper questioned the quality of advice reaching the White House during a candid Sunday interview.
Mark Esper questions Donald Trump’s advisers
Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper raised concerns about the advice President Donald Trump receives from his team. Speaking on NBC News’s Meet the Press on Sunday, Esper questioned the quality of guidance reaching the president. “I don’t see that the president is always getting good advice,” Esper told host Garrett Haake.
Haake pressed Esper on whether Trump’s advisers demonstrate loyalty to the Constitution above all else. Esper pointed out that he is not alone in raising these concerns about presidential counsel. “I think Republicans on Capitol Hill have asked that same question,” he said during the interview.
The comments arrive amid growing Republican unease over Trump’s recent foreign policy decisions regarding Iran. Multiple Senate Republicans have reportedly felt “somber” and expressed “dismay” over the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding. The agreement was finalized earlier this week and aims to end the war between the two nations.
Esper offered a mixed assessment of the deal, which also seeks to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. “I like the fact that we’ve extended the ceasefire,” he acknowledged on the program. However, he added that “when I look at the MOU there are many of the points that I have serious questions about.”
Esper and Trump’s relationship deteriorated after the president fired him from the Pentagon in November 2020. Tensions first emerged that summer when Trump deployed active-duty troops against civilian protesters across the country. Esper publicly opposed using the military in domestic settings at that time.
Trump later revoked Esper’s security detail in February 2025 alongside other former officials. Former national security adviser John Bolton and former Joint Chiefs Chair Mark Milley lost their protections, too. Esper declared Trump “a threat to democracy” in January 2024 and refused to vote for him.
Originally reported by Vritti Johar on Mandatory.com.
