It looks like Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis may be next in line to get the boot for disloyalty to President Donald Trump.
For some time now, Mattis has made statements and pursued policies at odds with Trump’s predilections, especially when it comes to strengthening U.S. commitments to NATO and assuring allies in Asia. But his most recent challenges have been particularly upfront, and this time Trump hit back.
The latest flap began Tuesday, when Mattis was asked at a news conference about the future of U.S. joint military exercises with South Korea. At the June summit in Singapore with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Trump had promised to suspend those exercises, saying they were provocative and expensive.
On Tuesday, Mattis—who hadn’t been consulted on this move at the time—made his opposition to Trump’s move clear. The suspension, he said, was taken “as a good-faith measure,” he said. Then he added, “We have no plans at this time to suspend any more exercises.”
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