FROM EIR DAILY ALERT

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Mattis Resignation Pushed Up to Dec. 31

Dec. 24, 2018 (EIRNS)—President Donald Trump is clearly highly displeased with Secretary of Defense James Mattis’s very public resignation letter, which attacked the Syria pullout, Trump’s intention that the U.S. befriend Russia and China, and his refusal to bow down to the British Empire (euphemistically called “our allies”). Trump has now forced Mattis to make his departure on Dec. 31, rather than waiting until Feb. 28, 2019, as Mattis had intended. This means that Mattis will not be around for the next NATO defense ministers meeting in the middle of February, during which he would be clearly articulating a policy at odds with that of his President.

A White House official had told the Associated Press that Trump decided Mattis should leave the administration earlier than planned, to avoid a drawn-out transition without someone on hand whom they consider a qualified deputy capable of running the Pentagon in an acting capacity. That qualified official is Patrick Shanahan, the current Deputy Secretary of Defense. A spokesman for Shanahan confirmed to AP that he would be taking the job as acting secretary on Jan. 1.