President Donald Trump tweeted on Thursday that Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, a retired Marine general who was one of Trumps first Cabinet picks, would be retiring at the end of February.
General Jim Mattis will be retiring, with distinction, at the end of February, after having served my Administration as Secretary of Defense for the past two years. During Jims tenure, tremendous progress has been made, especially with respect to the purchase of new fighting....
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Defense","slug":"united-states-secretary-of-defense","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/united-states-secretary-of-defense"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["\r\n\r\n","\r\n\r\n","\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false,"enhancements":{}}">General Jim Mattis will be retiring, with distinction, at the end of February, after having served my Administration as Secretary of Defense for the past two years. During Jims tenure, tremendous progress has been made, especially with respect to the purchase of new fighting....
Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 20, 2018
....equipment. General Mattis was a great help to me in getting allies and other countries to pay their share of military obligations. A new Secretary of Defense will be named shortly. I greatly thank Jim for his service!
Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 20, 2018","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Donald J. Trump","author_url":"https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump","cache_age":86400,"description":"....equipment. General Mattis was a great help to me in getting allies and other countries to pay their share of military obligations. A new Secretary of Defense will be named shortly. I greatly thank Jim for his service! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 20, 2018\n\n","provider_name":"Twitter","title":"Donald J. 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Defense","slug":"united-states-secretary-of-defense","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/united-states-secretary-of-defense"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["\r\n\r\n","\r\n\r\n","\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false,"enhancements":{}}">....equipment. General Mattis was a great help to me in getting allies and other countries to pay their share of military obligations. A new Secretary of Defense will be named shortly. I greatly thank Jim for his service!
Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 20, 2018
Mattis, who served more than four decades in the military and headed the U.S. Central Command from 2010 to 2013, won Senate confirmation as defense secretary on Jan. 20, 2017, shortly after Trumps inauguration.
The Pentagon chief, nicknamed Mad Dog Mattis during his time as a Marine, echoed Trumps call for strengthening the military and beefing up its combat readiness. The budget bill the president signed into law in February earmarked $700 billion for the Defense Department this fiscal year a more than 15 percent increase over the previous year and the biggest hike in military spending since 2002.
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Mattis resignation letter addressed to Trump indicates his final day in office will be Feb. 28.
I am proud of the progress that has been made over the past two years on some of the key goals articulated in our National Defense Strategy: putting the Department on a more sound budgetary footing, improving readiness and lethality in our forces, and reforming the Departments business practices for greater performance, he wrote.
Our troops continue to provide the capabilities needed to prevail in conflict and sustain strong U.S. global influence.
Defense Secretary James Mattis has resigned. Heres the letter: pic.twitter.com/e2PulyXpXZ
Elizabeth McLaughlin (@Elizabeth_McLau) December 20, 2018","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Elizabeth McLaughlin","author_url":"https://twitter.com/Elizabeth_McLau","cache_age":86400,"description":"Defense Secretary James Mattis has resigned. Heres the letter: pic.twitter.com/e2PulyXpXZ Elizabeth McLaughlin (@Elizabeth_McLau) December 20, 2018\n\n","provider_name":"Twitter","title":"Elizabeth McLaughlin on 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mattis","slug":"jim-mattis","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/jim-mattis","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/jim-mattis","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/jim-mattis"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Jim Mattis","slug":"jim-mattis","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/jim-mattis"},{"name":"United States Secretary of Defense","slug":"united-states-secretary-of-defense","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/united-states-secretary-of-defense","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/united-states-secretary-of-defense","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/united-states-secretary-of-defense"},"relegenceId":3700733,"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"United States Secretary of Defense","slug":"united-states-secretary-of-defense","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/united-states-secretary-of-defense"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["\r\n\r\n","\r\n\r\n","\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false,"enhancements":{}}">Defense Secretary James Mattis has resigned. Heres the letter: pic.twitter.com/e2PulyXpXZ
Elizabeth McLaughlin (@Elizabeth_McLau) December 20, 2018
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In the unusual letter, Mattis also wrote that he and Trump had differing views on Russian and Chinese authoritarianism: Because you have the right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects, I believe it is right for me to step down from my position.
Earlier this week, Trump went against Mattis by abruptly withdrawing U.S. troops from Syria. Mattis had previously argued that a small U.S. presence should remain because the counterterrorism mission there is ongoing and removing troops now would cause more problems for the region. Additionally, forces were withdrawn despite the concern by many Republicans that leaving would strengthen the hand of Russia and Iran, which both support Syrian President Bashar al Assad.
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