Former US Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Europe’s Most Dangerous Threats

One Decision

Former President Donald Trump’s Defense Secretary Mark Esper has come out against his old boss who fired him by tweet in November 2020, just days after the election. Esper has revealed in his memoir that he stayed in the administration in order to ‘hold the line’ against suggestions that the United States might bomb Mexico, Venezuela, or send a quarter million troops to the southern border. One Decision's Sir Richard Dearlove and Julia Macfarlane sit down with Dr. Mark Esper to discuss the current threats to Western interests originating overseas, his assessment of the Ukraine counter-offensive, and if Europe is sleepwalking into a security crisis, arming Ukraine but not refreshing their stocks fast enough. They also discuss the threat China poses to Taiwan and what he would change about AUKUS, the pact between the United Kingdom and the United States, to assist Australia in acquiring nuclear-powered submarines.