General Mattis Just Made A Media Statement About Trump That Will Make Donald Fire Him

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An explosive report in The New Yorker paints a dark picture of what happens every day in the White House. Stories of chaos and an inability to control a corrupt, inefficient, and egotistical president are a daily occurrence under President Trump. While he routinely appoints people to top positions in his administration who have zero experience in either politics or even the programs they’ve been appointed to oversee (Ben Carson, Betsy DeVos, along with Jared, Ivanka, and Steve Bannon come to mind), the ones who do have experience struggle even harder because they do know how inept the president is and feel their hands are tied.

One such Trump official is Secretary of Defense James Mattis. Mattis is a former Marine Corps general who served as an 11th commander of U.S. Central Command under Obama, so experience is not something he lacks. Trying to keep President Trump from acting on his worst insticts, however, has become his new job.

‘In most Administrations, a policy adviser might present three choices: one that’s too cold, one that’s too hot, and a third that’s just right. But what do you do when you are serving a President who nearly always picks the hot option? The delicate game theory of nuclear brinkmanship is predicated, in no small part, on the idea that the two sides are engaging in rational calculation. ‘

Mattis is widely considered to have been tasked with guarding the safety and security of all Americans by controlling what information and options are offered to an inexperienced president who favors direct action over any attempts at diplomacy.

‘Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, once told Mattis, “Your job is to make sure these morons don’t get up in the morning and advance some lame-brained idea.” Mattis’s interactions with McMaster indicate that he perceives Trump as a radically mercurial figure who must be managed with a degree of manipulation and care that exceeds the usual parameters of his job.’

‘“The job is the job,” one of McMaster’s close aides told me, arguing that there was nothing about Trump that necessitated a bespoke approach to the presentation of military options. If Mattis was a babysitter, then McMaster was a waiter, presenting the Commander-in-Chief with a menu, and letting him order.’

When a man whose nickname is “Mad Dog Mattis” is in charge of keeping the president from starting unnecessary wars, the country is truly in danger and in need of new leadership.

Featured image via Getty/Chip Somodevilla