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Trump moves up defense chief’s exit to January 1
WASHINGTON, Dec 24, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Donald Trump on Sunday announced he
will replace Defense Secretary Jim Mattis with his deputy Patrick Shanahan,
speeding up the Pentagon chief’s planned exit days after he quit, citing key
policy differences with the US president.
Mattis, 68, had said he would leave at the end of February to allow a
smooth transition for the next chief of the world’s top military power, but
Trump — who was reportedly upset over media coverage of the stinging
resignation letter submitted by the defense secretary — moved up the
timetable.
“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,” the Republican leader tweeted.
“Patrick has a long list of accomplishments while serving as Deputy, &
previously Boeing. He will be great!”
Trump initially praised Mattis in a tweet announcing his departure, saying
that he was retiring “with distinction” and that “during Jim’s tenure,
tremendous progress has been made.”
But Trump changed tone two days later, writing on Twitter that he had given
Mattis a “second chance” after he was “ingloriously” fired by president
Barack Obama, and appearing to take aim at a line from the Pentagon chief’s
resignation letter about respecting allies.
“Allies are very important-but not when they take advantage of U.S.,” Trump
wrote.
The announcement that Mattis would leave the administration came just after
Trump stunned Washington and allies abroad in declaring that US troops would
leave Syria and significantly withdraw from Afghanistan.
Mattis and others had strongly counseled the often-impulsive president
against those moves — and the decorated retired general did little to hide
his disagreement with Trump.
– ‘Treating allies with respect’ –
“Because you have the right to have a secretary of defense whose views are
better aligned with yours,” Mattis said in his resignation letter, “I believe
it is right for me to step down from my position.”
“My views on treating allies with respect and also being clear-eyed about
both malign actors and strategic competitors are strongly held and informed
by over four decades of immersion in these issues,” Mattis wrote.
Mattis’s announced exit was soon followed by that of another top official,
with Brett McGurk, the US envoy to the international coalition against the
Islamic State jihadist group, moving up his departure from February to the
end of the year.
Trump took to Twitter to criticize McGurk, referring to him as a
“grandstander” who was quitting just before his time was up.
Unlike Mattis, Shanahan has never served in the military and has spent most
of his career in the private sector.
He spent over three decades working for aircraft giant Boeing, including as
vice president and general manager of Boeing Missile Defense Systems, before
moving to the Pentagon as deputy in 2017.
Until Trump finds a permanent defense leader, Shanahan will lead plans for
US troops to leave Syria along with a significant drawdown in Afghanistan,
both of which critics worry will leave conflict-racked regions at risk of
continued and potentially heightened bloodshed.
Mick Mulvaney, who will soon leave his post as White House budget director
to serve as Trump’s chief of staff, told ABC on Sunday Trump will not change
his mind about the withdrawal, despite this week’s protest resignations.
“I think the president has told people from the very beginning that he
doesn’t want us to stay in Syria forever. You’re seeing the end result now of
two years’ worth of work.”
BSS/AFP/MRI/0828 hrs