WASHINGTON – US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said President Donald Trumphas assured him of his full support, one day after Trump appeared to castdoubt over the Pentagon chief s fate.
Speaking to reporters as he flew from Washington to Ho Chi Minh City at thestart of a diplomatic tour that will take him to Vietnam and Singapore,Mattis said he had spoken directly to Trump by phone late Monday morningWashington time.
“He said, I m 100 percent with you ,” Mattis said.
His remark comes after US broadcaster CBS on Sunday aired an interview withTrump, in which he suggested Mattis may be headed out the Pentagon door.
“It could be that he is. I think he s sort of a Democrat, if you want toknow the truth,” Trump said.
“But General Mattis is a good guy. We get along very well. He may leave. Imean, at some point, everybody leaves.”
Earlier on in the 20-hour flight to Vietnam — before he d spoken to Trump,who himself was flying on Air Force One to Florida — Mattis was asked whathe d made of Trump s comments.
“Nothing at all,” Mattis said.
“I m on his team. We have never talked about me leaving. And as you can seeright here, we are on our way, we just continue doing our job… noproblem.”
He added that he had never registered with any political party, and thatthose in the military are “proudly apolitical”.
It reached fever pitch in September, when veteran journalist Bob Woodwardpublished a book giving an inside glimpse into a chaotic White House andsaid Mattis had questioned Trump s judgment, likening his understanding tothat of a 10- or 11-year-old child.
Mattis s fate has been the subject of intense speculation for months amidrumours of his turbulent relationship with President Donald TrumpMattis, a buttoned-up former Marine Corps general, is loath to discusspolitics or his relationship with Trump, and the president is widelyreported to bristle at unfavourable comparisons to Mattis, who has broadbipartisan support.
The Woodward book details a number of times Mattis or Trump officials aresaid to have slow-walked orders from the president, such as in theaftermath of Trump s tweets last year that said all transgender personnelwould be banned from the military.
Read Top Stories
Trump is looking to reshape his cabinet after the mid-term elections, whichwill determine whether the Democrats can regain some degree of power aftera total and humiliating defeat in 2016.
The president has already cast off many of his original top-level picks,including former secretary of state Rex Tillerson and Lieutenant General HRMcMaster, who had been national security advisor.
Last week, his ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, announced herresignation, effective at the end of the year.
Speculation of Mattis s future in the Trump administration loomed over hisarrival Tuesday in Ho Chi Minh City for a week-long trip likely to bedominated by escalating tensions between Washington and Beijing over aroster of issues.
En route to Vietnam, Mattis blasted China s increasingly muscular militarypresence in the South China Sea and “predatory economic practices” towardssmaller countries in Asia.
But after weeks of worsening military-to-military strains with China as atrade war with the US slogs on, Mattis said Washington was not trying tohold back its Pacific rival.
“Obviously, we re not out to contain China,” he told reporters. “We d havetaken an altogether different stance had that been considered.”
The defence chief s Asia trip initially included a leg in Beijing, but thatfell through after China declined to make Mattis s counterpart availablefor him to meet.
Mattis s trip to Vietnam is his second to the country after his visit toHanoi in January.
Such visits by US defense secretaries have until now been exceedingly rare,and Mattis s presence strongly signals the importance Washington sees infurther enhancing ties with a former foe amid rising tensions with China. -APP / AFP
