Monday, June 25, 2018

Is U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis Shut Out Of Major White House Decisions?

Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis and President Donald Trump at the Pentagon following a meeting of the National Security Council in Washington, D.C., July 20, 2017. (DOD/U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Dominique A. Pineiro)

NBC: Mattis is out of the loop and Trump doesn't listen to him, say officials

On Iran, North Korea and other major issues, the defense secretary has been out of the loop.

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary James Mattis learned in May from a colleague that President Donald Trump had made the decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal, and scrambled to get his boss on the phone before a formal announcement was made. It wouldn't be the last time he was caught off guard by a presidential announcement.

A month later, Mattis was informed that Trump had ordered a pause in U.S. military exercises with South Korea only after the president had already promised the concession to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Last week, Trump again blindsided and overruled his defense secretary by publicly directing the Pentagon to create a sixth military branch overseeing operations in space.

Read more ....

Update: Mattis shut out of major administration decisions: report (The Hill)

WNU Editor: I can understand why he may not be in the loop on diplomatic issues. Diplomacy is the responsibility of the US State Department .... the Pentagon can only advise .... even when diplomacy and military manners cross each other. U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis also serves at the pleasure of the President, and right now he is the President's front man when he goes to China tomorrow.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

now: yes

Anonymous said...

Forget it folks, it's NBC. They are the experts on fake news.

Anonymous said...

They are so repulsive to watch. I used to watch every major news outlet -except fox-.. now it's reversed for me. No more cnn. The worst are perhaps Cooper, Lemon and that tiny guy who always tries to put on his slightly creepy boyish smile.. stilzer or something. He single handedly managed me to abandon cnn... and NBC is so bad I can't even watch it for fun..they're clearly acting. ..I hope at last ..no one can be that dishonest and stupid...especially copper when he runs his "keeping them honest"segment and never mentions lies on the other side. .it's all a show. .they're selling out because the left is too dumb to switch the channel

Anonymous said...

Anon
your just the sort Fox loves
compare the number of times Fox has been shown to be wrong, to have lied with the times for CNN or MSNBC...but you are at home, and I guess you have to find cute people you can warm up to for "honest" news...

fred said...

A DOCUMENTED SET OF FACTS ON THE LIES AND MISINFORMATION ON FOX TV NEWS No other station comes close to that!

Anonymous said...

ok Chase: all mainstream media no good. Where then do you get your news from? All is fake but that which you somehow suck up from????a source that consistently winds prizes for outstanding journalism and reporting!

Mike Feldhake said...

All Media outlets Lie! They are like Priests spouting a religion because you have to 'believe' what your hearing. It's all about sales numbers and making money, not the News.

WNU Editor; I don't include you in this, you operate differently.