James Mattis, President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Defense and a distinguished U.S. Marine Corps general, will be leaving the administration at the end of February, writing in his resignation letter that Trump deserves a defense secretary whose views are better aligned with his own. Trump first made the announcement of Mattis’ departure via Twitter, a day after the administration said the U.S. will be withdrawing all of the approximately 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria.
In his tweets announcing Mattis’ departure, Trump said the general would be retiring. A copy of Mattis’ resignation letter provided by the Pentagon shows that the outgoing defense secretary wrote that one of his core beliefs is that the strength of the nation is “inextricably linked to the strength of our unique and comprehensive system of alliances and partnerships.”
Mattis wrote that his views on treating allies with respect and being clear-eyed about “both malign actors and strategic competitors” are informed by over four decades of experience.
“Because you have the right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects, I believe it is right for me to step down from my position,” Mattis wrote.
Trump said a new Secretary of Defense will be named shortly.
Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike condemned Trump’s announcement of the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria. One of Trump’s staunchest allies in the Senate, Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, said the withdrawal “would be a huge Obama-like mistake.”
A letter to Trump from a bipartisan group of Senators, including Graham, said the consideration to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria emboldens ISIS, Syrian President Bashar al Assad, Iran and Russia. The letter also stated that the decision would hurt the U.S.’ Kurdish partners.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, who have partnered with U.S. troops for years as the key force against IS militants, said in a strongly worded statement laced with bitterness that the fight against IS was at a “decisive” stage that requires even more support from the U.S.-led coalition.
“The war against terrorism has not ended and (the Islamic State group) has not been defeated,” the statement said.
In his tweets announcing Mattis’ departure, Trump offered praise for the defense secretary.
“During Jim’s tenure, tremendous progress has been made, especially with respect to the purchase of new fighting equipment,” Trump said in a pair of tweets. “General Mattis was a great help to me in getting allies and other countries to pay their share of military obligations. A new Secretary of Defense will be named shortly. I greatly thank Jim for his service!”
You can read Mattis’ full resignation letter here.
This is a breaking news story. Refresh for updates.
Reporting and writing from The Associated Press was used in this story.
Photo by Jacquelyn Martin/Associated Press
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