{"id":65017,"date":"2020-04-05T15:29:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-05T15:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/04\/05\/defense-secretary-insists-trump-didnt-order-firing-of-theodore-roosevelt-commander\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:12:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:12:35","slug":"defense-secretary-insists-trump-didnt-order-firing-of-theodore-roosevelt-commander","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/2020\/04\/05\/defense-secretary-insists-trump-didnt-order-firing-of-theodore-roosevelt-commander\/","title":{"rendered":"Defense Secretary insists Trump didn\u2019t order firing of Theodore Roosevelt commander"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2020\/04\/05\/troops-to-start-wearing-face-masks-in-public-to-prevent-coronavirus-spread\/\" target=\"_blank\">Defense Secretary Mark Esper<\/a> insisted on Sunday that the firing of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navytimes.com\/news\/your-navy\/2020\/04\/02\/navy-fires-theodore-roosevelt-skipper-following-leaked-letter-pleading-for-covid-19-assistance\/\" target=\"_blank\">aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt\u2019s commanding officer<\/a> was not prompted by White House complaints and that military leaders will conduct a full investigation into the incident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In an interview on CNN\u2019s State of the Union, Esper backed the decision by acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly to dismiss Capt. Brett Crozier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think Secretary Modly laid out very reasonably and very deliberately the reasons (for the firing),\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I think when all those facts come to bear, we\u2019ll have a chance to understand why Secretary Modly did what he did.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Thursday, Crozier was dismissed from his command in the wake of a leaked letter he wrote pleading for help to stifle a coronavirus outbreak on the 4,800-person aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2020\/04\/03\/biden-blasts-firing-of-theodore-roosevelt-commander-as-trump-dismisses-criticism\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"214\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/tomcat.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Biden blasts firing of Theodore Roosevelt commander as Trump dismisses criticism<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The former vice president said the move was one of poor judgement by military leadership.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Crozier had proposed that the ship be mostly evacuated and the majority of his sailors moved into isolated quarantine in Guam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Sunday, Esper confirmed that 155 sailors on the ship have tested positive for COVID-19 so far, but not have suffered any serious medical symptoms as a result of the illness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFirst and foremost, we need to take care of the sailors on the ship,\u201d Esper said. \u201cWe need to ensure their well being and get that ship back out to sea as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Crozier\u2019s letter, which was first published by the San Francisco Chronicle, was reportedly sent up the captain\u2019s immediate chain of command in a \u201cnon-secure, unclassified\u201d email that included \u201c20 or 30\u201d additional recipients, Modly told reporters Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c[The letter] misrepresented the facts of what was going on,\u201d Modly said. \u201cOkay, that\u2019s just not acceptable. \u2026 When I have a commanding officer who\u2019s responsible for a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, with all that lethality and all that responsibility \u2026 that demonstrated extremely poor judgement in the middle of a crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Crozier\u2019s dismissal has prompted fierce criticism of the Navy and administration from an array of Democratic lawmakers and former military officials. On Saturday, President Donald Trump defended the firing, calling Crozier\u2019s actions extreme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI thought it was terrible what he did to write a letter,\u201d Trump said. \u201cI mean, this isn&#8217;t a class on literature. This is a captain of a massive ship that is nuclear powered, and he shouldn&#8217;t be talking that way in a letter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHe could call and ask \u2026 I thought it was inappropriate. I agree with their decision 100 percent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump said he was not involved in the firing decision. But CNN reported that Modly told colleagues that Crozier\u2019s firing came because Trump wanted the commander punished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Sunday, Esper denied that was the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis decision wasn\u2019t made by President Trump,\u201d he said. \u201c\u201dIt was Secretary Modly\u2019s decision. He briefed me about it, and I took the advice of the Chief of Naval Operations (Adm. Michael Gilday) and (Joint Chiefs Chairman) Gen. Mark Milley with regard to it. And I told him I would support his decision.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2020\/04\/03\/watch-the-heros-farewell-sailors-gave-their-fired-theodore-roosevelt-skipper\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"177\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screen-Shot-2020-04-02-at-1.50.25-PM.png.png?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Watch the hero\u2019s farewell sailors gave their fired Theodore Roosevelt skipper<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">\u201cCaptain Crozier! Captain Crozier!\u201d the sailors chanted amid claps and cheers as their skipper walked along the gangway, leaving his ship of nealy 5,000 sailors.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Esper said a full investigation into the letter and senior leadership response to it is underway. But he said he did not see the firing as premature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAll of the services at times have relieved commanders without the benefit of an investigation upfront, because they&#8217;ve lost confidence in them,\u201d he said. \u201cIt&#8217;s certainly not unique to the Navy. And the Navy has a culture of swiftly and decisively removing captains if they lose confidence in them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Esper did not respond to specific criticism related to the firings of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navytimes.com\/news\/your-navy\/2017\/10\/11\/navy-fires-john-s-mccain-leadership-calls-fatal-august-collision-preventable\/\" target=_blank>guided missile destroyer John McCain<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navytimes.com\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/04\/11\/navy-expected-to-drop-criminal-charges-against-fitzgerald-skipper\/\" target=_blank>guided missile destroyer Fitzgerald <\/a>after fatal collisions aboard both ships. Those firings took weeks longer than Crozier\u2019s, and happened only after investigations into the accidents were finished.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Secretary Mark Esper called the dismissal reasonable but said a full investigation is underway.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":48802,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":86,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[66,101,23,93,12,25,67],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3226],"class_list":["post-65017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-coronavirus","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"PT7PBKZ7CJH7DFVRC3SZHBWAOI","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2020\/04\/05\/defense-secretary-insists-trump-didnt-order-firing-of-theodore-roosevelt-commander\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Defense Secretary insists Trump didn\u2019t order firing of Theodore Roosevelt commander - Marine Corps Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Secretary Mark Esper called the dismissal reasonable but said a full investigation is underway.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2020\/04\/05\/defense-secretary-insists-trump-didnt-order-firing-of-theodore-roosevelt-commander\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Defense Secretary insists Trump didn\u2019t order firing of Theodore Roosevelt commander\" 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