Esper's diary: Trump relied on fabricated and misleading information to target Soleimani

Former US Defense Secretary Mark Esper, in his memoirs, asserts that "Trump greatly exaggerates his statements, and often makes unreliable and fabricated statements."

Former US Defense Secretary Mark Esper confirmed that he "opposed" former US President Donald Trump's decision to target the commander of the Quds Force, the martyr Qassem Soleimani, after Trump claimed "Soleimani was involved in targeting 4 US diplomatic missions."

Esper's newly released memoirs, titled "A Sacred Oath: Memoirs of a Defense Secretary During Difficult Times", stated that "the daily intelligence briefings, which he reviewed, did not include any evidence to support the theory of accusing Soleimani of an attack on American embassies," adding that "Trump Adopt a pattern of behavior based on lying.

"Trump greatly exaggerates his statements, often making unreliable and fabricated statements," Esper wrote in his memoirs.

Esper was directly attacked by President Trump, who accused him of dishonesty, and was subsequently dismissed from office in November 2020.

Earlier, Esper revealed, in his memoirs, that Trump suggested shooting demonstrators who demanded racial justice, when the demonstrations approached the White House.

Redacted quotes in a new book by former US defence secretary Mark Esper suggest that former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on US President Donald Trump to take direct military action against Iran's nuclear programme. 

In the book, A Sacred Oath: Memoirs of a Secretary of Defense During Extraordinary Times, Esper notes that Trump seemed firm in his commitment not to enter a war with Iran, the Haaretz newspaper reported on Tuesday.

He writes: "The president often had others in the room, and foreign leaders like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, telling him [REDACTED]."

Esper wrote that Milley told him that Robert O'Brien, Trump's national security adviser, had called to say that "the president wanted to strike a senior military officer who was operating outside of Iran".

"But why now? What was new? Was there an imminent threat? What about gathering the national security team to discuss this?

"Milley said he was 'stunned' by the call, and he sensed that O'Brien 'put the president up to this,' trying to create news that would help Trump's re-election."