Mattis predicts no issues with next security adviser Bolton

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Jim Mattis acknowledged on Tuesday that he and President Donald Trump’s incoming national security adviser, John Bolton, have different world views but predicted they will develop a working partnership.

“I look forward to working with him — no reservations, no concerns at all,” Mattis told reporters at an impromptu news conference. “Last time I checked he’s an American. I’m not in the least bit concerned.”

Mattis said he has never met Bolton, a former ambassador to the United Nations and conservation firebrand. He said he expects Bolton to pay a visit to the Pentagon soon, perhaps this week, to begin developing a relationship.

“I’ll tell you right up front: it’s going to be a partnership,” he said. When a reporter mentioned that people see his world view as significantly different than that of Bolton, Mattis replied, “That’s the normal thing you want, unless you want group-think.”

Bolton, who will replace Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster on April 9, has publicly advocated for overthrowing the North Korean government, possibly by force. Mattis, a retired Marine general who knows intimately the costs of war, favors diplomacy to rid the North of its nuclear weapons and has said war on the Korean peninsula would be “catastrophic.” On Iran, too, Mattis would seem at odds with Bolton, who has argued for abandoning the Obama-era nuclear deal.

The changes in the White House and at the State Department, while significant for Mattis, are hardly heartstopping. People close to him sense no change in his commitment; some suggest that Trump’s decision to move former Republican congressman Mike Pompeo to State, replacing Tillerson, could benefit Mattis in the sense that he’ll have a partner at State better aligned with Trump.