President Donald Trump says he will nominate Mark Esper to be the next US defense secretary.

Esper, who is currently Army secretary, is scheduled to take over as acting defense secretary Sunday.

His predecessor as acting secretary, Patrick Shanahan, left the Pentagon Friday. Shanahan withdrew from consideration for the job Tuesday, before his formal nomination had even gone to the Senate.

Esper is an Army veteran who served in the first Iraq war. He also has experience as a national security adviser on Capitol Hill as well as a defense industry lobbyist.

Trump is nominating Army Undersecretary Ryan McCarthy to fill the Army secretary job left vacant by Esper.