US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis will be retiring “with distinction” at the end of February, President Donald Trump announced on Thursday.
Mr. Trump tweeted that General Mattis “was a great help to me in getting allies and other countries to pay their share of military obligations”.
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
It comes a day after the president’s controversial announcement that all US troops would be withdrawn from Syria.
Mr. Trump did not name a successor, but said one would be appointed shortly.
In his resignation letter, Gen Mattis described his views on “treating allies with respect” and using “all the tools of American power to provide for the common defence”.
“Because you have the right to have 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,” Gen Mattis wrote.
Responding to the news, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said Gen Mattis “should be proud of the service he has rendered to President [Trump] and our nation”.
“He has been in the fight against radical Islam for decades and provided sound and ethical military advice to President Trump,” he tweeted.
Democratic Senator Mark Warner said the development was “scary”, describing Gen Mattis as “an island of stability amidst the chaos of the Trump administration”.
