The announcement comes a day after the president makes the surprise announcement that he’s pulling U. S. troops out of Syria.
WASHINGTON – Defense Secretary James Mattis is stepping down from his post, President Trump announced Thursday, after the retired Marine general clashed with the president over a troop drawdown in Syria and Trump’s go-it-alone stance in world affairs.
Mattis, perhaps the most respected foreign policy official in Trump’s administration, will leave by the end of February after two tumultuous years struggling to soften and moderate the president’s hardline and sometimes abruptly changing policies.
