November 10 (ANI): US President Donald Trump said on Monday that Defense Secretary Mark Esper had been "terminated." The move appears to be an attempt by Trump to settle scores with his administration, with over 70 days left in office after his November 3 election defeat.

On Twitter, Trump announced that the Acting Secretary of Defense would be Christopher C Miller, Director of the National Counterterrorism Center.

"I am pleased to announce that the Acting Secretary of Defense will be Christopher C. Miller, the highly respected Director of the National Counterterrorism Center (unanimously confirmed by the Senate), effective immediately," the President tweeted.

"... Chris is going to do a GREAT job! Mark Esper was terminated. I'd like to thank him for his service," he said in another tweet.

After James Mattis resigned over policy differences with the president, Esper was Trump's second defense secretary.

Esper had been out of favor with Trump for opposing the summer proposal to use active-duty troops to suppress protests in the United States over racial injustice.

In a closely contested election against current President-elect Joe Biden, a four-decade Washington figure who was a Senator and then became vice president, Trump was projected to have been defeated.

Trump refused to admit defeat, saying that the election was "far from over" after Biden was projected as the 46th president of the United States, and promised legal challenges through his re-election campaign.