Trump announces Defense Secretary Mattis to retire next year

WASHINGTON — Secretary of Defense James Mattis is retiring, President Donald Trump announced on Twitter Thursday evening — a day after Trump announced that he would pull U.S. troops out of Syria against the advice of the Pentagon.

Trump put a nice face on his secretary’s departure, as he noted Mattis would be “retiring, with distinction” in February.

But in a two-page letter announcing his departure, Mattis painted a different picture.

“Because you have the right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects I believe it is right to step down from my position,” Mattis wrote.

....equipment. General Mattis was a great help to me in getting allies and other countries to pay their share of military obligations. A new Secretary of Defense will be named shortly. I greatly thank Jim for his service!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 20, 2018

In the letter, Mattis outlined some of his deeply-held beliefs, including his support for the NATO alliance that Trump frequently scorned. Mattis recalled NATO troops fighting with U.S. troops after the 9/11 attack on America and cited the Defeat-ISIS Coalition as proof of the advantages that come with developing strong alliances and showing respect for long-term U.S. allies.

“While the U.S. remains the indispensable nation in the free world, we cannot protect our interests or serve that role effectively without maintaining strong alliances and showing respect to those allies,” Mattis wrote.

Trump’s decision to pull troops out of Syria has been criticized for abandoning America’s Kurdish allies, who may well face a Turkish assault once U.S. troops leave.

In his resignation letter, Mattis also counseled in favor of a more muscular response to China and Russia, two countries that want to “shape a world consistent with their authoritarian model.”

Perhaps more than any other cabinet member, Mattis, a retired four star Marine general, was regarded in Washington as a leavening agent in a volatile administration – an old-school soldier who was able to dissuade Trump from withdrawing U.S. troops from hot spots around the globe, as the GOP candidate suggested he would do during the 2016 campaign.

Many heard Mattis’ voice in August 2017, when Trump told American troops in Fort Meyer, Virginia, that contrary to his past pronouncements, he would not pull U.S. troops out of Afghanistan.

“My original instinct was to pull out, and historically, I like following my instincts,” Trump said then. “But all my life, I’ve heard that decisions are much different when you sit behind the desk in the Oval Office.”

Trump and Mattis — whom the president used to fondly refer to as one of “my generals” — had been butting heads frequently in recent times and his departure had been predicted by many.

“I don’t think that comes as a big surprise, particularly in retrospect,” Heritage Foundation national security expert James Carafano told the Review-Journal. “We know for several months there have been key disagreements.

“In one sense,” Carafano said of the Mattis resignation, “this is kind of the adult thing.”

Trump made his dissatisfaction with Mattis known in October when he told “60 Minutes,” “I think he’s sort of a Democrat, if you want to know the truth. But Gen. Mattis is a good guy. We get along very well. He may leave. I mean, at some point, everybody leaves.”

Mattis’ departure was immediately lamented by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

“This is scary,” tweeted Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence committee. Mattis “has been an island of stability admidst the chaos of the Trump administration. As we’ve seen with the president’s haphazard approach to Syria, our national defense is too important to be subjected to the president’s erratic whims.”

On learning the news, Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., urged Trump to “listen to your national security team” and take the opportunity to reassess his Syria decision.

“I think everybody in this country should read his letter,” said House Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi, who hailed Mattis as a great patriot.

The Mattis resignation comes in the middle of a hectic week in a White House used to chaos. Earlier in the day, Trump informed House Republicans that contrary to earlier signals sent by the administration, he would not sign a spending bill passed by the Senate to avoid a partial government shutdown.

And Trump’s announcement regarding Syria on Wednesday caught many by surprise. A senior administration official on a conference call with reporters seeking particulars on the Syrian announcement, confessed, “It’s not that I’m not telling you; it’s that I don’t know quite frankly.”

“I don’t think they actually have National Security Council meetings,” said former Obama undersecretary of state Ellen Tauscher. “They certainly didn’t have it on this one.”

Mattis traveled to the White House Thursday afternoon to inform Trump of his decision to leave the administration. Trump said a replacement would be chosen soon.

Contact Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal.com or at 202-662-7391. Follow @DebraJSaunders on Twitter.