Mark Esper

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Key Figures

President Donald Trump approves a plan on June 30, 2020, to withdraw 9,500 of the 34,500 U.S. troops stationed in Germany, reducing the total force ceiling to 25,000. Defense Secretary Mark Esper announces some troops will redeploy to Belgium, Italy, and other NATO allies while others return home. Trump says Germany hasn't met its NATO spending obligations, calling the reduction punishment for a country that is "delinquent." Bipartisan Senate critics and former military commanders warn the withdrawal weakens deterrence against Russia and damages alliance credibility.

On June 1, 2020, federal law enforcement — including Secret Service, Park Police, and D.C. Metropolitan Police — used tear gas, pepper balls, and rubber projectiles to forcibly clear peaceful protesters from Lafayette Square in Washington DC. Moments later, President Trump walked through the cleared area to St. John's Episcopal Church, where he posed holding a Bible for a photo. Trump had given a speech in the Rose Garden calling himself "your president of law and order" and invoking the Insurrection Act. Episcopal Bishop Mariann Budde, whose church was used without permission, said Trump had used a "sacred symbol" for "partisan political purposes." A reverend described being gassed "to hold a Bible and look Christian." D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser condemned the "authoritarian" use of force against peaceful demonstrators.

Trump addresses the nation from the White House announcing Iran "appears to be standing down" and that "no Americans were harmed", a claim later contradicted by 109 TBI diagnoses. He announces new sanctions and urges European abandonment of the JCPOA. Trump's de-escalatory rhetoric contrasts sharply with the severity of the Iranian strike.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired 16 ballistic missiles at Al-Asad airbase and Erbil airport in Iraq on January 8, 2020, in retaliation for the US killing of General Qasem Soleimani. The Pentagon reported that 110 US service members suffered traumatic brain injuries from the blast concussions, though Trump initially stated "no Americans were harmed." Iran announced its retaliation was complete, and both sides stepped back from immediate escalation.

A US drone strike at Baghdad International Airport killed IRGC Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. President Trump authorized the strike citing an imminent threat; Iran vowed severe retaliation. The assassination marked the most significant US direct action against Iran in decades and triggered Iranian ballistic missile strikes on US bases in Iraq.