Trump didn’t understand Mattis’s resignation letter, now he’s fuming — report

The New York Times reports that Donald Trump’s decision to replace Jim Mattis early comes as he has gotten increasingly more angry over the Pentagon chief’s rejection of him.

According to an aide cited by the paper, Trump initially did not understand that Mattis’s resignation letter included criticism of the president’s move to pull out of Syria.

“When Mr. Trump first announced that Mr. Mattis was leaving, effective Feb. 28, he praised the defense secretary on Twitter, saying he was retiring ‘with distinction.’ One aide said that although Mr. Trump had already seen the resignation letter when he praised Mr. Mattis, the president did not understand just how forceful a rejection of his strategy Mr. Mattis had issued,” the paper reports.

As negative news coverage has spread, his anger over the resignation and backlash has grown, and his tweets and public statement about Mattis have gotten less laudatory.

When President Obama ingloriously fired Jim Mattis, I gave him a second chance. Some thought I shouldn’t, I thought I should. Interesting relationship-but I also gave all of the resources that he never really had. Allies are very important-but not when they take advantage of U.S.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2018