I’m going to mark this as unlikely….
(Of course he CAN)
The Hill asks this question today based on leaked sources ….
The piece says Trump’s pissed that Mattis is looked at a rational adult counter to Trump’s impulsive and ignorant actions on national security issues….
My guess is like Atty. Gen. Sessions?
Republicans would NOT be happy if Trump was to get rid of Mattis for a ‘yes’ man that might follow Trump’s crazy assed wants….And that feeling is sure to be conveyed to Trump after this piece is out….
President Trump has reportedly weighed replacing Defense Secretary James Mattis after the November midterm elections.
White House aides told The New York Times for a story published Saturday that Trump has mulled tapping a new Pentagon chief who would be a more like Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in being a vocal supporter of his policies.
Trump and Mattis have reportedly butted heads over a number of policy issues, such as banning transgender people from serving in the military, military exercises with South Korea and the United States’ posture toward NATO.
The Times, citing multiple current and former officials, reported that Trump chafes at comparisons with Mattis that cast the former Marine as the adult in the room.
Aides also told the Times that Mattis has grown weary of beating back requests from Trump that he disagrees with while taking great pains to appear publicly loyal to the president.
“Secretary Mattis is probably one of the most qualified individuals to hold that job,” Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told the Times.
Reed said a Mattis departure from the Pentagon “would, first of all, create a disruption in an area where there has been competence and continuity.”
However, Trump reportedly took exception to an anecdote in veteran journalist Bob Woodward’s book in which Mattis likened the president’s intellect to that of a “fifth or sixth grader.” Mattis has called Woodward’s reporting on him “fiction.”….
image…rt.com