Of course I don’t think about leaving — Mattis
WASHINGTON: US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis dismissed Tuesday a fresh round of rumors suggesting his days at the Pentagon might be numbered due to deteriorating relations with President Donald Trump.
The buttoned-up former Marine general is loathe to discuss politics or his dynamic with his mercurial boss, but a new book by veteran political reporter Bob Woodward has thrust the two mens’ relationship into the spotlight.
Among other claims, Woodward said Mattis questioned Trump’s judgment and likened the president’s understanding to that of a 10- or 11-year-old child.
Citing current and former US officials, The New York Times published a story Saturday casting Mattis’s future as being in doubt as Trump seeks to surround himself with hardcore loyalists and yes-men.
“It’ll die down soon and the people who started the rumour will be allowed to write the next rumour too, just the way this town is,” Mattis told Pentagon reporters.
“Keep a sense of humor about it.”
Mattis has denied talking to Woodward and said he never likened Trump to a child.
“I wouldn’t take it seriously at all,” Mattis said.
“It’s like most of those kinds of things in this town. Somebody cooks up a headline, they then call to a normally chatty class of people, they find a couple of other things to put in, they add the rumor, somebody on the other coast starts writing the same thing — next thing you know you’ve got a story.”
Mattis added he has no intention of quitting. — AFP