Trump asked about launching Patriot missiles into Mexico, claims ex-defence secretary’s book

‘An unprincipled person who, given his self-interest, should not be in the position of public service’

File: Donald Trump asked about the possibility of bombing drug trafficking labs in Mexico while he was US president, former defense secretary Mark Esper says in a book set to be released on 10 May 2022 (AFP via Getty Images)

Former defense secretary Mark Esper has revealed in his new book that former president Donald Trump allegedly asked him in 2020 about launching missiles into Mexico to “destroy the drug labs”.

Mr Trump is said to have told Mr Esper that “we could just shoot some Patriot missiles and take out the labs, quietly”, reported the The New York Times, citing book excerpts.

According to Mr Esper’s upcoming memoir A Sacred Oath, Mr Trump said Mexico didn’t “have control of their own country” and that “no one would know it was us”.

Mr Esper objected to his idea at the time.

The exchange is one of the many stunning discussions between the former president and Mr Esper detailed in the book.

The author is quoted by NYT as saying that he felt he was “writing for history and for the American people”.

Speaking about Mr Trump, Mr Esper said he was “an unprincipled person who, given his self-interest, should not be in the position of public service”.

The book also revealed Mr Trump allegedly seemed more “emboldened, and more erratic after he was acquitted in his first impeachment trial”.

Mr Esper wrote that the former president tried to “tighten his grip on the executive branch with demands of personal loyalty”.

The book also revealed that Mr Trump wanted to put 10,000 active-duty troops on the streets of Washington on 1 June 2020.

This was when large protests against police brutality erupted in different parts of the country following George Floyd’s murder.

“Can’t you just shoot them?” Mr Trump allegedly remarked to Mr Esper about the protesters, according to an excerpt of the book accessed by Axios.

“Just shoot them in the legs or something?”

The former president eventually fired Mr Esper in early November 2020, just days after losing the presidential election.