{"id":37409,"date":"2018-12-23T17:47:57","date_gmt":"2018-12-23T17:47:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/12\/23\/trump-fires-mattis-early-shanahan-to-take-over-jan-1\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T07:46:48","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T07:46:48","slug":"trump-fires-mattis-early-shanahan-to-take-over-jan-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2018\/12\/23\/trump-fires-mattis-early-shanahan-to-take-over-jan-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump fires Mattis early, Shanahan to take over Jan. 1"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 Just days after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2018\/12\/20\/mattis-out-defense-secretary-says-his-views-no-longer-aligned-with-trump\/\" target=_blank>Defense Secretary Jim Mattis <\/a>announced he would step down from that post in late February, President Donald Trump announced he would push the popular Cabinet member out even earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a tweet Sunday morning, Trump announced that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2018\/12\/21\/who-will-trump-tap-to-replace-mattis\/\" target=_blank>Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan<\/a> will become acting secretary of defense starting Jan. 1. He praised the Pentagon\u2019s second-in-command as having \u201ca long list of accomplishments\u201d and added, \u201cHe will be great!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The move cuts short Mattis\u2019 tenure by two months, and adds to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2018\/10\/16\/mr-secretary-are-you-a-democrat\/\" target=_blank>an acrimonious end of the relationship<\/a> between the commander in chief and his top military leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Thursday, Mattis in a resignation letter told Trump he was making the move to allow the president to find \u201ca secretary of defense whose views are better aligned with yours.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said his February departure date was designed to minimize disruption on the department during the leadership transition.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2018\/12\/21\/with-mattis-out-is-shanahan-poised-to-rewire-the-pentagon\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-876762790.jpg_5099c5.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Shanahan poised to rewire the Pentagon with Mattis out<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan could suddenly find himself in the spotlight, following Defense Secretary Jim Mattis&#039; announced departure.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Mattis\u2019 criticism of Trump\u2019s national security policies in the letter \u2014 in opposition to his announced withdrawal of U.S. forces from Syria and his past negative comments towards U.S. foreign allies \u2014 clearly irked Trump, leading to the early dismissal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Saturday, Trump appeared to fire back at Mattis on social media, tweeting that \u201cwhen President Obama ingloriously fired Jim Mattis, I gave him a second chance. Some thought I shouldn\u2019t, I thought I should.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a statement after Sunday\u2019s announcement, Defense Department spokesman Army Col. Rob Manning said only that \u201cthe secretary of defense serves at the pleasure of the president. The department remains focused on national security.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mattis remains popular among lawmakers on Capitol Hill and the armed forces. A Military Times poll conducted in late September found that nearly 84 percent of troops had a favorable view of his work leading the armed forces. Among officers, the figure was almost 90 percent.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2018\/10\/15\/support-for-trump-is-fading-among-active-duty-troops-new-poll-shows\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4645429.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Support for Trump is fading among active-duty troops, new poll shows<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">A new Military Times poll shows that troops today are evenly split in their views about President Trump.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Mattis\u2019 relationship with Trump had appeared to sour in recent months as the president pushed for more aggressive military policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pentagon officials appeared caught unaware by sudden decisions made in the Oval Office on forming a new Space Force, sending troops to the southern U.S. border, and banning transgender recruits from the ranks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Most recently, Trump\u2019s decisions to begin massive troop withdrawals in the Middle East and Afghanistan seemed to go against military commanders\u2019 advice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shanahan, who is among the candidates to permanently replace Mattis, is now in a position to drive changes he&#8217;s championed as Mattis&#8217; deputy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The former Boeing executive in his current role has pushed for systemic changes to the acquisition system that pushes the Pentagon&#8217;s focus away from annual budget cycles and more on making programs successful.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2018\/12\/20\/read-defense-secretary-mattis-resignation-letter\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"180\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ARM-Mattis-resigns-1.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Read Defense Secretary Mattis\u2019 resignation letter<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Defense Secretary Jim Mattis will step down at the end of February.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cToo often we focus on process, or budget, or level of effort,\u201d Shanahan told Defense News in an earlier interview. \u201cThe Pentagon should focus on outcomes and outputs \u2014 our performance. This focus on performance should drive us to field unmatched lethality, execute on our modernization plans and achieve this affordably.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He has also focused on eliminating duplicative programs \u2014 for example, situations where the Army and Air Force both have a need for a similar system and develop unique solutions on their own, rather than joining up and creating a single system that can be used department-wide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the past, services have pushed back on that idea because of the unique needs of, say, a Navy system designed to go to sea and survive the elements and sea-salt air, or an Army system designed to work on land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shanahan has risen to the top of the list of likely successors to permanently replace the now-fired Mattis, partly because of his business background and good relationships with both Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Shanahan has clashed with some in the Pentagon who say he\u2019s is too focused on having meetings, sucking up staff time without having many concrete victories to point to, according to officials who have worked with him who spoke to Defense News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Reporter Aaron Mehta contributed to this story. <\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan will take over the department on Jan. 1.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":80189,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":19,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[36,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3424,3361],"class_list":["post-37409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsletters","category-pentagon"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"X32NK6DSYZAHZN6UJSJWW5BNIM","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2018\/12\/23\/trump-fires-mattis-early-shanahan-to-take-over-jan-1\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Trump fires Mattis early, Shanahan to take over Jan. 1 - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan will take over the department on Jan. 1.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump fires Mattis early, Shanahan to take over Jan. 1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan will take over the department on Jan. 1.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2018\/12\/23\/trump-fires-mattis-early-shanahan-to-take-over-jan-1\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Defense News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-12-23T17:47:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T07:46:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Leo Shane III, David B. 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