President Donald Trump said Tuesday that it was 'unselfish' of acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly to resign his post but noted he ...
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that it was 'unselfish' of acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly to resign his post but noted he had 'no role' in getting rid of the official who caused a firestorm for his administration with his profanity-laced tirade to the crew of the USS Theodore Roosevelt.
'I had no role in it,' the president said at his daily White House press briefing, adding that 'the whole thing was very unfortunate.'
He said he would not have asked Modly to resign.
'I had heard he did because he didn't want to cause any disturbance for our country. Because he wouldn't have had to resign. I would not have asked him,' Trump said. 'But he did that I think just to end, end that problem. I think in many ways that was a very unselfish thing for him to do.'
He said again that Captain Brett Crozier shouldn't have written his letter that criticized the Navy for its response to his request for aid to the USS Theodore Roosevelt, which had a coronavirus breakout.
'The captain shouldn't have written a letter. He didn't have to be Ernest Hemingway,' Trump said.
He declined to say what he thought should happen to Crozier, saying that was in the hands of Defense Secretary Mark Esper.
'They're going to look at it,' he said. 'They are going to do is take it under regular Navy channels to see what they want to do. He made a mistake but he shouldn't have done that.'
Modly submitted his resignation letter to Esper on Tuesday morning as pressure was mounting on the administration to take action in the wake of Modly's handing of the situation on the air craft carrier.
‘This morning I accepted Secretary Modly’s resignation,' Esper said in a statement. 'He resigned of his own accord, putting the Navy and the sailors above self so that the USS Theodore Roosevelt, and the Navy as an institution can move forward.'
President Donald Trump said it was 'unselfish' of acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly to resign his post but noted he had 'no role' in getting rid of him
Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly resignedTuesday as lawmakers pressured President Donald Trump to take action
Acting Under Secretary of the Army James McPherson, left, (seen with National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley) will be the new acting secretary of the Navy
Captain Brett Crozier washing dishes last Thanksgiving in the scullery while the USS Theodore Roosevelt was underway in Pacific so junior crew members could get time for holiday meal
In an effort to contain the fallout from Modly's action, Esper emphasized the health and safety of the crew of the USS Theodore Roosevelt come above all.
He noted that his three priorities are: 'First, protect our people, which means putting the health, safety, and welfare of the USS Theodore Roosevelt’s crew first; Second, maintain the war fighting readiness of the U.S. military, which means getting the Roosevelt back to sea, and on patrol, as soon as safely possible, and third, fully supporting the whole of government/whole of nation response to the coronavirus.’
Esper tapped Acting Undersecretary of the Army, James McPherson, to succeed Modly as acting secretary of the Navy until a replacement can be nominated. He noted he spoke to President Trump after he accepted Modly's resignation to update him on the situation.
McPherson is a retired rear admiral and was the former judge advocate general of the Navy. Before his career in the Navy, he was a military policeman in the United States Army.
Modly's resignation came amid mounting criticism of his handling of the coronavirus outbreak on one of the Navy's air craft carriers. Several Democratic lawmakers had called for his head.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi was one that said Modly should resign or be removed from office as was the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, which has jurisdiction over the Navy.
'Acting Secretary Modly’s actions and words demonstrate his failure to prioritize the force protection of our troops. He showed a serious lack of the sound judgment and strong leadership needed during this time. Acting Secretary Modly must be removed from his position or resign,' she said in a statement.
'I no longer have confidence in Acting Secretary Modly's leadership of the Navy and believe he should be removed from his position,' said Congressman Adam Smith, the Democrat from Washington who chairs the armed services panel.
Several lawmakers were furious when Modly relieved Captain Brett Crozier of his command of the USS Theodore Roosevelt after a letter the captain wrote berating the Navy for its handling of a coronavirus outbreak on the ship went public.
But that fury reached the boiling point after Modly flew 8,000 miles to Guam over the weekend to address the crew of naval aircraft carrier, which was docked there so sailors could be treated for virus.
In a 15-minute speech, blasted over the ship's PA system, Modly went on a tirade against Crozier, calling him 'naive' and 'stupid' for writing something that ended up being leaked to the media.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Rep. Adam Smith, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, demanded President Donald Trump fire his acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly
Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly issued the apology statement above on Monday evening after President Trump said he may step in to settle the situation
Modly's remarks imploded after they were made public. Defense Secretary Mark Esper ordered him to apologize, CNN reported, and President Trump indicated he was going to step in and settle the situation.
Modly did offer an apology but it didn't save his job.
'I want to apologize for my recent comments to the crew of the TR,' he said in a statement late Monday evening. 'Let me be clear, I do not think Captain Brett Crozier is naive or stupid. I think, and always believed him to be the opposite. We pick our carrier commanding officers with great care. Captain Crozier is smart and passionate.'
'I believe, precisely because he is not naive and stupid, that he sent his alarming email with the intention of getting it into the public domain in an effort to draw public attention to the situation of his ship,' he added.
'I apologize for any confusion this choice of words may have caused. I also want to apologize directly to Captain Crozier, his family, and the entire crew of the Theodore Roosevelt for any pain my remarks may have caused,' Modly said.
In a scathing memo to Navy officials, Crozier pleaded to be able to take the Roosevelt to dock to try and contain the growing out break of coronavirus on the ship.
'We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die,' Crozier wrote in the four-page missive.
Several people - including lawmakers and his sailors alike - hailed him as a hero for his words. His crew applauded him as he descended the gang plank of the ship after Modly removed him from command.
As of Tuesday, 230 crew members of the Roosevelt had tested positive for the coronavirus, according to Navy officials. There are over 5,000 sailors on board.
President Trump acknowledged Modly used 'tough language' when he addressed the sailors and said he may wade into in the situation.
'Believe it or not, I am good at settling arguments. I'm good at settling these arguments. So I may look into it in great detail, in detail. I'll be able to figure out very fast,' the president said at his daily press briefing on Monday.
But Trump also said Crozier shouldn't have sent the memo. He added, however, that the captain had a great career prior to the incident and shouldn't have that destroyed for 'having a bad day.'
'With all of that said, his career prior to that was very good. So I'm going to get involved and see exactly was going on. I don't want to destroy somebody for having a bad day,' the president said.
'He shouldn't be writing letters like that. But it happens. Sometimes I'll write a letter that I'll say I wish I didn't send it. Not too often but it happens,' Trump said.
When pressed, President Trump declined to say what he may do for Crozier but said he would speak to Modly and Esper about it.
'The only thing that has played right up here with me is that I looked at his record,' Trump said, pointing to his head as he talked about Crozier. 'He's been an outstanding person. If he wasn't, I wouldn't even be talking about this. He's been an outstanding person. He's had a very exemplary military career.'
The president then went on to praise Crozier's military record: 'He started off as a helicopter pilot. They called him chopper. He was a great helicopter pilot. Takes tremendous skill. Then he went to F-16s or f-18's and he was tremendous pilot and then he was very smart, he studied nuclear energy and he was fantastic and very few people have the aptitude, that they have the mentality to do that. Nuclear energy is very complex, it's very hard, very few people can do it. And he did it well.'
Trump repeated that the captain merely made 'a mistake' in sending the missive and indicated Crozier shouldn't have to pay for it with his military career.
'He made a mistake. He made a mistake. And maybe we are going to make that mistake not destroy his life,' he said.
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