Dec 31 Outgoing defense secretary Mattis urges employees to ‘hold fast’ By Robert Burns, Associated Press Jim Mattis, who resigned over a series of policy disagreements with Trump said he's confident Pentagon employees will remain "undistracted from our sworn mission to support and defend the Constitution while protecting our way of life."… Continue reading
Dec 24 Watch 8:38 Troop drawdowns and Defense Dept. turnover leave U.S. foreign policy in flux Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has signed the order withdrawing U.S. troops from Syria. Meanwhile, President Trump wants to reduce the number of American troops in Afghanistan by half. But what will the decreased U.S. military presence in these countries mean… Continue watching
Dec 24 ‘Fix-it’ man Shanahan, Mattis’ successor, working to streamline defense spending By Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press In the new year Trump wants to focus on streamlining purchases at the Pentagon, an issue on which Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan has already been working, a White House official said. Continue reading
Dec 23 Trump: Mattis out as of Jan. 1; deputy to be acting chief By Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press Irritated with the criticism and fallout from Defense Secretary Jim Mattis’ resignation, President Donald Trump on Sunday pushed the Pentagon chief out the door two months earlier than planned, an acrimonious end to a tense relationship that had been eroding… Continue reading