Trump loves me, really – Mattis
DEFENCE SECRETARY: ‘PRESIDENT IS 100% BEHIND ME’
Pentagon chief ‘can leave administration’, leader tells TV.
US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said President Donald Trump has reassured him of his full support after the Republican president described his Pentagon chief as “sort of a Democrat” who could leave the administration.
Mattis, speaking to reporters before landing in Vietnam yesterday, said he received the reassurance from Trump in a phone call during his nearly 20-hour flight from Washington.
“[Trump] said, ‘I’m 100% with you’,” Mattis recounted, playing down Trump’s remarks to CBS’ 60 Minutes, which aired on Sunday.
Asked whether he was a Democrat, as Trump suggested, Mattis, disclosed that he had not registered as a Democrat or a Republican.
“I have never registered for any political party,” said Mattis, a retired Marine general.
Mattis sought to portray national defence as an issue above partisan politics. He also pointed to a long military career that taught him to act in a “proudly apolitical” manner, in which US service members carry out orders from Republican and Democratic presidents alike.
Mattis said he did not talk to Trump about leaving his job and dismissed speculation he was being pushed out.
“I’m on his team. We have never talked about me leaving. And as you can see right here, we are on our way [to Asia]. We just continue doing our job,” Mattis said.
The remarks represented Mattis’ first and only response since Trump’s assertions to CBS raised questions about whether Mattis might be getting ready to leave his job, perhaps after mid-term US elections next month.
Trump told the news programme: “I think he’s sort of a Democrat, if you want to know the truth. But General Mattis is a good guy. We get along very well. He may leave. I mean, at some point, everybody leaves.”
Mattis’ future has become a focus of media speculation after last month’s release of a book by Watergate reporter Bob Woodward that portrayed Mattis privately disparaging Trump to associates. Mattis has strongly denied any such remarks. – Reuters