President Trump just made his move and announced General James Mattis will be leaving January 1st, not in February as Mattis had requested.
He names a new acting defense secretary and while the media will be shocked and outraged the truth is everyone saw this coming.
Mattis and Trump disagreed but Mattis’ letter supposedly rubbed Trump the wrong way and especially the media coverage of it.
“I am pleased to announce that our very talented Deputy Secretary of Defense, Patrick Shanahan, will assume the title of Acting Secretary of Defense starting January 1, 2019.” Trump said in a tweet.
“Patrick has a long list of accomplishments while serving as Deputy, & previously Boeing,” he said. He will be great!”
Shanahan has been the point person on the new Space Force. Trump signaled this was coming with an earlier tweet:
“When President Obama ingloriously fired Jim Mattis, I gave him a second chance. Some thought I shouldn’t, I thought I should. Interesting relationship-but I also gave all of the resources that he never really had. Allies are very important-but not when they take advantage of U.S.”
Rand Paul came out with a blistering defense of president Trump’s policies in Syria reminding everyone Trump did, in fact, run on this platform.
From Breitbart:
His resignation shook the Washington, DC, establishment to the core, as many criticized Trump’s insistence on getting American troops out of the Middle East.
Brett McGurk, the U.S. Envoy to the coalition against ISIS, resigned on Saturday in protest.
Trump suggested that McGurk was only grandstanding, noting that he was previously appointed by former President Barack Obama. He also claimed that McGurk was already scheduled to leave in February.
“The Fake News is making such a big deal about this nothing event!” he protested.
Trump described his relationship with Mattis as “interesting” but reminded him that he fully funded the military during his time as Secretary of Defense.
Mattis suggested that he had strong differences with Trump for his mistreatment of American allies across the globe.
“Allies are very important – but not when they take advantage of U.S.,” Trump wrote.
I am pleased to announce that our very talented Deputy Secretary of Defense, Patrick Shanahan, will assume the title of Acting Secretary of Defense starting January 1, 2019. Patrick has a long list of accomplishments while serving as Deputy, & previously Boeing. He will be great!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2018
