Trump Announces New Secretary of Defense | World

"Patrick has a long list of achievements as a vice and before Boeing he will be great!" Trump said on Twitter.

Patrick Shanahan will badume the title of Acting Secretary of Defense effective January 1, 2019. Patrick has a long list of accomplishments when he was Vice President of Boeing. It will be great!

– December 23, 2018

Patrick Shanahan will replace the current Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, who resigned last Thursday (20) for not having endorsed the decision of President Donald Trump to withdraw more than 2,000 Syrian soldiers.

In a letter revealed by the Pentagon, Mattis admitted his dissatisfaction with Trump. "As you have the right to have a Secretary of Defense with opinions more in line with yours in this area and in others, I think it's just leaving my post", Mattis writes.

On Twitter, the US president criticized Mattis for his work, especially for "respect for the purchase of new military equipment."

…. equipment. General Mattis has been a great help in getting allies and other countries to fulfill their military obligations. The new Secretary of Defense will be appointed soon. I greatly appreciate Jim for his service!

– 20 December 2018

On Wednesday (19), Trump announced the total withdrawal of US forces in Syria. This decision is linked, according to the White House, to the reconquest of territories formerly occupied by the terrorist group "Islamic State".

The ruling is in line with one of the proposals of President Donald Trump, who opposes the maintenance of the armed forces in Syria.

"We defeated the Islamic State in Syria, my only reason for being in the Trump government," said the US president. against the group. The US government prefers to treat the decision as a "new phase of the campaign".