INVESTIGATIONS: “Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper testified that he and others had to dissuade then-President Donald Trump from using active-duty military troops to quell the racial protests breaking out in the summer of 2020.
Trump was upset about the civil unrest around the country in the wake of the murder of George Floyd in Minnesota, believing it made the US look weak, Esper said, according to a transcript of his April 1, 2022 deposition by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.”
-Billy House, “Trump Asked About Troops to Quell Racial Protests, Esper Told Jan. 6 Panel,” bloomberg.com, December 22, 2022