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Defense Secretary Jim Mattis testifies at a Senate External Relations Commission hearing on October 30, 2017. (Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP)
Felicia Sonmez
National Journalist in the Washington Post Political Press Team
President Trump said he did not know if Defense Secretary Jim Mattis would leave the administration, and described him as "a kind of democrat," amidst reports making state of friction between the two.
Trump made the remarks in an interview with CBS News' "60 Minutes," aired Sunday night. An excerpt from the interview was released Sunday morning.
"Well, I do not know, he did not tell me that," said Trump to the question of whether Mattis could leave his post.
Trump said that he had a "very good relationship" with Mattis and that the two had lunch together "two days ago", but the President added that "it could be that he "share.
"I think he's kind of a democrat, if you want to know the truth," Trump said. "But General Mattis is a good guy. We are getting along very well. He can leave. I mean, at one point, everyone leaves. Everybody. People are leaving. It is Washington. "
Mattis has often publicly denied some of Trump's most controversial statements on foreign policy, and the two have a tense relationship, said veteran journalist Bob Woodward in his book "Fear".
In an episode reported by Woodward, Mattis described Trump as including "a fifth or sixth grade student" after a meeting of the National Security Council. In another episode, after Trump had announced his intention to assassinate Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Mattis would have accepted but would later told an assistant, "We will not do anything about it."
Mattis denied making derogatory comments about Trump, and the president said last month that the retired general "was doing a fantastic job."
In his 60-minute interview, Trump also described as "so fake" reports of chaos in his administration, thereby removing concerns about the turnover of its senior officials.
"I change things and I have the right to do it. There are now people waiting who will be phenomenal. They will enter the administration. They will be phenomenal, "said Trump.
He said that he was satisfied with the performance of some members of his administration, there were others "for which I am not happy."
"Yeah, the others are going to go, of course," Trump said.
Missy Ryan and Dan Lamothe contributed to this report.
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