He made many other claims about Trump.[5] Among these claims, Esper asserts that, during a meeting in June 2020, Trump asked whether U.S. troops could shootBlack Lives Matter protesters;[6] that Trump once called Esper, Vice PresidentMike Pence and GeneralMark Milley "fucking losers" after Milley told him that he had no command authority over the active duty andNational Guard troops Trump wanted to deploy against protesters;[7] and that an officer, whom Esper does not name, explored the possibility of invoking theTwenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution to remove Trump from office after a May 2020 meeting of theJoint Chiefs of Staff.[8]
Lloyd Green ofThe Guardian wrote "The ex-defense secretary’s memoir is scary and sobering – but don’t expect Republican leaders or voters to heed his warning"[9] and John Bolton ofThe Wall Street Journal wrote "I still believe this. 'A Sacred Oath' is not a gratuitous tell-all. It is a work of history.".[10]
