President Trump’s decision to abruptly withdraw U.S. military forces from Syria has reportedly frustrated Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, who decided – after two years of service in the Administration – to resign his post by the end of February. In his letter of resignation that was obtained by TV7, Secretary Mattis stated that he decided to step down from his position, to allow for someone ‘whose views are better aligned with those of the President on the matter of Syria and other subjects’ to pick up the important position. Rejecting claims of a personal rift between Trump and Mattis, the White House Press Secretary underscored that while they had disagreements on matters of U.S. policy, the two men maintain a good relationship. According to Sarah Sanders, “Secretary Mattis has served the President, was with the President for two years. They have a good relationship. I’ve seen it up close and personal on a number of occasions. And again, they agree to disagree at home but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a good relationship with somebody. He was laying out the reasons that he was stepping down from his post. And, beyond that I think it’s absurd to try to question it.” After a meeting of about 45 minutes at the White House, President Trump released a statement on his twitter account, in which he praised Secretary Mattis for serving his administration with distinction and announced that a new Secretary of Defense will be named shortly.
