There have been a number of people who have left the White House since President Trump took office.
Following the recent departure announcements of Nikki Haley, Ryan Zinke and John Kelly, there is another person who is now leaving the Trump administration: Secretary of Defense General Jim Mattis.
President Trump announced the departure of Mattis on Twitter, saying that his secretary of defense will be leaving at the end of February.
General Jim Mattis will be retiring, with distinction, at the end of February, after having served my Administration as Secretary of Defense for the past two years. During Jim’s tenure, tremendous progress has been made, especially with respect to the purchase of new fighting….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 20, 2018
….equipment. 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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 20, 2018
Following the news of Mattis leaving the White House, his resignation letter made it to social media.
Mattis tells POTUS in resignation letter: “we cannot protect our interests or serve that role effectively without maintaining strong alliances and showing respect to those allies” pic.twitter.com/7nLcMBdEio
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) December 20, 2018
In the letter, Mattis discusses the need of supporting the interests of alliances,treating those alliances with respect and the need to combat the authoritarianism Russia and China.
However, the most interesting part of the letter is where Mattis essentially says him and Trump did not see eye to eye on matters: “Because you have the right to have a Secretary of State whose views are better aligned with yours and other subjects.”
The announcement of Mattis’ resignation, who will step down from his post on February 28, comes one day after Trump said he was pulling troops out of Syria.