Defence secretary Jim Mattis resigns after clashing with Donald Trump on policy
In a letter, Mattis implicitly criticised Trump for failing to value the US's closest allies, who fought alongside the US
Washington — US defence secretary Jim Mattis abruptly said he was quitting on Thursday after falling out with President Donald Trump over his foreign policies, including surprise decisions to yank troops from Syria and start planning a drawdown in Afghanistan. Mattis announced plans to depart in a candid resignation letter to Trump that laid bare the growing divide between them, and implicitly criticised Trump for failing to value the US's closest allies, who fought alongside the US in both conflicts. He released the letter after a face-to-face meeting with Trump in which the two men also aired their differences, a senior White House official said. “Because you have a right to a secretary of defence 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 said in the letter. US officials said the resignation had not been forced by Trump. Trump announced on Wednesday that US troops in Syria would be wit...
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