Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis unveiled his impending resignation Thursday night; announcing his plan to step down at the Pentagon in February.
“I have been privileged to serve as our country’s 26th Secretary of Defense which has allowed me to serve alongside our men and women of the Department in defense of our citizens and our ideals,” Mattis wrote to the president.
“I am proud of the progress that has been made over the past two years on some of the key goals articulated in our National Defense Strategy: putting the Department on a more sound budgetary footing, improving readiness and lethality in our forces, and reforming the Department’s business practices for greater performance. Our troops continue to provide the capabilities needed to prevail in conflict and sustain strong U.S. global influence,” he added.
President Trump said he plans to announce Mattis’ replacement in the coming days.
“The president’s national security team’s job is to give him advice and it’s the president’s job to make a decision,” said press secretary Sarah Sanders.
Read the full report at the Associated Press.
CARAVAN CRISIS: ‘Hundreds’ of Central American Migrants Reach US, Mattis Heads to Border
Hundreds of Central American migrants from a “breakaway” caravan group reached the US-Mexico border Wednesday; prompting Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis to head to the region as tension swirls.
As the ‘migrant caravan’ approached the border at Tijuana, Secretary Mattis departed for Donna, Texas where he is set to meet with active duty troops patrolling the border as thousands of immigrants march north.
“As we have said repeatedly, being a member of a caravan doesn’t give you any special rights to enter the country,” DHS spokeswoman Katie Waldman told Fox News. “If they arrive at a Port of Entry, they will have to wait in line in keeping with the lawful processes at our ports of entry. If they attempt to enter illegally, they will have violated U.S. criminal law and in accordance with the President’s proclamation and the Interim Final Rule they would be ineligible for asylum.”
“We’ll update you on costs as they become known,” Secretary Mattis told reporters on the estimated price of the deployment. “Obviously, the units executing the border mission have got to report them right up here. We are capturing the costs.”
Read the full report at Fox News.
MAD DOG UNLEASHED: Mattis FIGHTS BACK Against Phony Trump Report
Secretary of Defense Jim ‘Mad Dog’ Mattis fired-back against recent reports that claimed President Trump “refused” to hear briefings related to Russia, saying “I have no reservation” about discussing any topic with the President, nor has he seen any “pushback” from Trump while discussing Russia.
“I have no reservation nor has the president ever evidenced any pushback when I bring up Russia in a national security context”
CNN’s Brooke Baldwin commented on Mattis’ statement regarding a recent Washington Post report that falsely claimed Trump’s National Security Council had an “unspoken understanding” that topics related to Russia would not be discussed.
“Trump has never convened a Cabinet-level meeting on Russian interference or what to do about it, administration officials said. Although the issue has been discussed at lower levels at the National Security Council, one former high-ranking Trump administration official said there is an unspoken understanding within the NSC that to raise the matter is to acknowledge its validity, which the president would see as an affront,” writes the Post.
Mattis pushed back against the allegations over the weekend, saying Trump has never “evidenced” any of the behavior described by the Washington Post.
“I have no reservation nor has the president ever evidenced any pushback when I bring up Russia in a national security context … I have not seen this shyness including over at the White House,” Mattis said.
Watch Mattis’ comments below: