Donald Trump suggested missile strikes on Mexico drug cartels, ex-Pentagon chief claims

Former President Donald Trump speaks from the podium during a rally last week. Photo / AP

Donald Trump suggested launching missiles into Mexico to "destroy" drug labs run by cartels and then denying America was behind the attacks, his former Pentagon chief has claimed.

The claim is made in the upcoming memoir of Mark Esper, A Sacred Oath, in which he shares concerns he had that Trump would misuse the US military during his time in office.

He also criticised Trump's senior staff, claiming that one adviser suggested dipping the head of Isil leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in pig's blood as a warning to other terrorists, according to the New York Times.

Esper said he had to explain that this would constitute a war crime.

The former defence secretary's account of his time in the Trump administration portrays a White House consumed with concerns over the president's re-election.

He describes Trump's behaviour as increasingly erratic and unbridled after his acquittal in his first impeachment trial in February 2020.

At one point, he worried Trump would take drastic steps to remain in the White House, including having soldiers seize ballot boxes.

He also recounted Trump's ideas for stopping the flow of drugs across America's southern border.

He claimed Trump asked him at least twice if the US military could "shoot missiles into Mexico to destroy the drug labs".

"They don't have control of their own country," Trump reportedly told Esper.

When Esper objected, the former president told him: "We could just shoot some Patriot missiles and take out the labs, quietly."

Trump reportedly added: "No one would know it was us" and suggested he could deny the US was behind the attack.

"He is an unprincipled person who, given his self-interest, should not be in the position of public service," Esper said of Trump in his memoir, according to a copy seen by the New York Times.

Esper was fired by Trump shortly after his defeat in the 2020 election.

He fell out of favour after he publicly disagreed with Trump over his idea to send active military troops into US cities to quell racial justice protests.

The former Pentagon chief said he contemplated resigning on a number of occasions but chose to remain in the role out of fear he would be replaced with a "yes man" who would execute Trump's more dangerous ideas.

Stephen Miller is singled out for criticism in the book. Photo / Getty Images

He also singled out some of Trump's senior advisers for criticism, including Trump's immigration tsar Stephen Miller.

Esper claimed that Miller proposed sending 250,000 soldiers to the US border with Mexico to stop a large caravan of migrants.

"The US armed forces don't have 250,000 troops to send to the border for such nonsense," Esper writes that he responded.

The Situation Room as US Special Operations forces close in on Isil leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Photo / Getty Images

He also recounts watching the US raid in Syria that killed al-Baghdadi with Miller in the White House Situation Room in 2019.

He claimed that Miller proposed al-Baghdadi's head, dipping it in pig's blood and parading it around to warn other terrorists.

Esper said he responded that it would be a "war crime".