Former Trump Defense secretary: ‘I don’t see that the president is always getting good advice’

Administration Former Trump Defense secretary: ‘I don’t see that the president is always getting good advice’ Comments: by Tara Suter - 06/21/26 3:13 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Tara Suter - 06/21/26 3:13 PM ET Comments: Link copied

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Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Sunday said he doesn’t think “that the president is always getting good advice” from his advisers.

“Do you trust that the president is being given advice by people who think their loyalty is to the Constitution?” NBC News’s Garrett Haake asked Esper, who served in President Trump’s first term, on “Meet the Press.”

“I don’t see that the president is always getting good advice, and so I think that’s the question to ask. I think Republicans on Capitol Hill have asked that same question, ‘Is the president getting the best advice with regard to these strategic matters?’” Esper responded.

A number of Republicans in Washington have expressed concern and frustration with some of Trump’s actions in recent weeks, particulary in Iran. Some Senate Republicans are “somber” and in “dismay” about the memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran, which was finalized earlier this week.

Esper on Sunday said he some “serious questions” about the deal, which seeks to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

“I like the fact that we’ve extended the ceasefire. I like the fact that the Strait is being opened up, that will provide economic relief to a lot of people, and I like the fact that we’re getting into nuclear talks,” he said. “But that said, when I look at the MOU there are many of the points that I have serious questions about and concerns about.”

Esper became a vocal critic of Trump after the president ousted the former Army secretary from the Defense Department in November 2020. Their relationship strained during that summer, when the president used active-duty troops to clamp down on protests. The former Defense secretary publicly opposed the use of the military in civilian settings

In February of last year, Trump also revoked Esper’s security detail, adding him to slew of other allies-turned-critics of the president. Former national security adviser John Bolton, former CIA Director Mike Pompeo and former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Mark Milley all had their details removed.

Esper, in 2024, said he would not vote for his old boss, calling him a “threat to democracy.”

“And yes, I do regard him as a threat to democracy, democracy as we know it, our institutions, our political culture, all those things that make America great and have defined us as, you know, the oldest democracy on this planet,” Esper said to Jim Acosta, formerly of CNN, in January 2024.

The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.

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