Donald Trump has a James Mattis problem
The last barrier that stood between Donald Trump and nuclear armageddon appears to be on the outside looking into the Trump inner circle. When Trump first began assembling his cabinet, a group seemed to be chosen for their history of trying to abolish the very positions they were picked. Very few stood out as even acceptable choices, but one was James “Mad Dog” Mattis, the retired Marine Corps General who is the current Secretary of Defense – though some believe that Trump made this selection on the nickname alone.
General Mattis has proven to be different from most of Trump’s other selections in that he’s shown no interest to suck up to Trump. Last year Mattis even told a group of young troops to “just hold the line until our country gets back to understanding and respecting each other.” These comments were made shortly after Trump made the “both sides” comment following the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. This comment was believed to be directed at Trump, suggesting that he won’t be around forever, and America just needs to hold tight until he is removed.
It is now being reported that Trump is relying less on the advice of Mattis, who finds himself much less involved in military planning and is often finding out about important decisions after they are announced publicly. “They don’t really see eye to eye,” a former senior White House official told NBC News. In fact, Mattis found out about Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Iran Deal from a colleague.
The division between Trump and Mattis seems to have worsened over the past few months. The decision to end U.S. military exercises with South Korea to appease Kim Jung Un, as well as Trump’s direction to order the Pentagon to create a sixth military branch called the Space Force, came as a surprise to Mattis. Some believe that Trump’s addition of John Bolton, known for being a war hawk, was the final straw for Mattis, who would prefer to avoid war when possible.
While the original addition of Mad Dog Mattis to Donald Trump’s cabinet made many people feel safer, this recent revelation is sure to cause many to worry. As Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation gets closer to Trump, we can expect him to act even less rational (if that’s even possible), as he’ll likely do anything to try to distract us. Combined with Bolton being in his ear instead of Mattis, anything is possible.
I’m a ceramic engineer living in Central New York, avid sports fan but find myself more interested in politics lately.