Defense Secretary Mark Esper says he 'didn't know' where he was going when he walked with Trump through a park aggressively cleared of protesters moments before

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Secretary of Defense Mark Esper told NBC News Tuesday evening that he "didn't know" where he was going when he walked with President Donald Trump Monday night.

"I thought I was going to do two things: to see some damage and to talk to the troops," he said, adding he had "no idea" protesters were forcefully cleared from a park so that Trump could take photos at a damaged church.

Earlier in the day, a senior defense official stressed that Esper had not even planned to attend the event at the White House.

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Secretary of Defense Mark Esper says he "didn't know" where he was going when he walked with the president through a park forcefully cleared of protesters for a photo-op at a damaged church, telling NBC News that he thought he was going to see the troops and look at a vandalized bathroom.

"I thought I was going to do two things: to see some damage and to talk to the troops," Esper told NBC Tuesday night. "I didn't know where I was going." He added that he had "no idea" about the plans to disperse protesters by force.See the rest of the story at Business InsiderNOW WATCH: Why electric planes haven't taken off yetSee Also:'We don't know any more than you know': Lawmakers in the dark about how Trump is using military against protestsPentagon officials try to distance the military's top leaders from Trump's controversial photo-op and the forceful clearing of protestersPentagon chief urges governors to 'dominate the battlespace' to end unrest as thousands of National Guard troops take to the streets in US cities

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