Former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper opined this week that the U.S. was not in a strong position in the ongoing Iran war and that the U.S. was struggling to achieve its overall strategic aims. Esper served as secretary of defense from July 2019 to November 2020. Trump fired him after the election due to disagreements over his claims that voter fraud affected the outcome. The war began in late February with joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran that took out Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Trump has sought commitments from Iran to never possess a nuclear weapon, which Tehran has been unable to make.