>> reporter: president trump said he stopped the navy from taking away the trident pin, which identifies gallagher as a navy seal, in order to stand up for warriors on the battlefield. >> they wanted to take his pin away. i said, no, you're not going to take it away. he's a great fighter. we're going to protect our war fighters. >> i don't think he understands the full definition of a war fighter. a war fighter is a profession of arms. and a profession of arms has to be standards that they have to be held to and they hold themselves to. >> reporter: gallagher will be retired as a seal despite being convicted of dishonoring the uniform by posing with the body of a dead isis fighter, but spencer is out of a job. speaking off camera, defense secretary mark esper said he fired spencer for going behind his back to try to work out a deal with the president. >> secretary spencer had proposed a deal whereby if the president allowed the navy to handle the case he would guarantee that eddie gallagher would be restored to rank, allowed to retain his trident