When US Defense Secretary Mark Esper publicly split with President Donald Trump amid nationwide protests, he was gambling with his career.<br />Business Insider reports Trump was furious with Esper for not supporting him in sending in active-duty US troops to forcefully subdue protests.<br />Trump has repeatedly said he wants to "deploy the United States military" to stamp out the demonstrations, triggered by the death of George Floyd.<br />Floyd was a 46-year-old black man who died after a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. He was laid to rest on Tuesday.<br />Esper caught the White House off guard at a Pentagon news briefing, where he expressed his opposition to sending US troops into American cities.<br />He also distanced himself from Trump's photo-op at a church and the pepper-spraying of protesters from a nearby park that made that possible.
