Trump weighs replacing Mattis after 2018 midterm elections: Report

[mystery-ak]

Trump weighs replacing Mattis after 2018 midterm elections: Report
by Katelyn Caralle
 | September 15, 2018 10:58 AM



More than a dozen White House officials and confidants of the current secretary of defense said that President Trump is contemplating replacing Jim Mattis with a more vocal Trump supporter after the 2018 midterm elections, according to a report.

The sources told the New York Times that the relationship between Trump and Mattis, once strong, has tarnished over time.

Mattis is not one to publicly declare his loyalty for Trump, and likes to keep the Pentagon free from too much political influence and the idea that the U.S. military could be used for political purposes.

The relationship between the two has become even more strained lately with the release of journalist Bob Woodward’s book earlier this week, where he quotes Mattis as saying Trump has the mental intellect of a “fifth or sixth grader.”

more
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/white-house/trump-weighs-replacing-mattis-after-2018-midterm-elections-report

[Emjay]

Okay.  I doubted this story even before I clicked on it and realized there is nothing there.

Another group of unidentified rumor mongers told the New York Times something and the Times lapped it up and passed it on.

I hope Trump does not replace Mattis.  I think he's a good guy.

[Chosen Daughter]

Trump doesn't know up from down.  Right from left.

[TomSea]

We've talked about it before, that situation in Afghanistan.

It seems, as I've repeated other times, that is why Sebastian Gorka left the Trump administration. I gather, Mattis has been a big proponent for staying there.

Gorka said that after he heard Trump's speech on ramping up troop levels in Afghanistan, he knew "that the anti-MAGA forces were in ascendance."
https://www.businessinsider.com/sebastian-gorka-why-left-the-white-house-2017-8

That's not conclusive but does speak a bit about it.

It's probably things like this and not only this.  I've thought Mattis was doing well on this; but I can see it is very difficult to be in that position.