{"id":29826,"date":"2019-03-03T17:18:56","date_gmt":"2019-03-03T17:18:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/03\/03\/trump-claims-he-coined-the-nickname-mad-dog-mattis\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T11:55:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T11:55:13","slug":"trump-claims-he-coined-the-nickname-mad-dog-mattis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/leadership\/2019\/03\/03\/trump-claims-he-coined-the-nickname-mad-dog-mattis\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump claims he coined the nickname \u2018Mad Dog\u2019 Mattis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 President Donald Trump incorrectly claimed to have coined <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>former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis\u2019<\/a> well-known \u201cMad Dog\u201d nickname because \u201cChaos\u201d was not a good enough one for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/2013\/04\/05\/mattis-the-man-the-myths-and-the-influential-general-s-deep-bond-with-his-marines\/\" target=_blank>four-star Marine Corps genera<\/a>l.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The comments came during a lengthy speech on Saturday before the annual <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?time_continue=3745&#038;v=YBpbTm6i_cU\" target=_blank>Conservative Political Action Conference<\/a> meeting. Trump was speaking on the military\u2019s involvement in the Middle East when he said Defense Department generals \u201care perfect people\u201d and he wanted to make more of them famous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cJust like I did with Mattis,\u201d he said. \u201cI said we\u2019re going to give you a new nickname, because \u2018Chaos\u2019 is not a good nickname. So we changed it to \u2018Mad Dog.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;But Mad Dog wasn\u2019t working too well (as secretary).&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2017\/09\/21\/mattis-explains-the-origin-of-the-call-sign-chaos\/\" 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\/20170918_AFA_Sec-Mattis08.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\">The origin of Mattis\u2019 call sign, \u2018Chaos\u2019<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">&quot;There was never a &#039;Mad Dog&#039; in there.&quot;<\/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 news reports referred to Mattis by the moniker \u2014 which he has publicly said he does not like \u2014 <a href=\"http:\/\/articles.latimes.com\/2004\/apr\/16\/world\/fg-general16\" target=_blank>as far back as 2004<\/a>, when he was commanding general of the 1st Marine Division.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mattis addressed his &#8220;Mad Dog&#8221; nickname at his Senate confirmation hearing for defense secretary in January 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;That nickname was given to me by the press, and some of you may have experienced similar occasions with the press where perhaps they didn&#8217;t get it quite right,&#8221; Mattis said during his testimony, according to CNN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMattis acquired the nickname \u2018Mad Dog\u2019 \u2014 a moniker that is not used by people who know him, friends say \u2014 after he made comments such as \u2018be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet\u2019 and \u2018a good soldier follows orders, but a true warrior wears his enemy\u2019s skin like a poncho,\u2019 &#8221; CNN reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mattis has said on several occasions that his call sign of \u201cChaos\u201d came from troops saying behind his back that the \u201ccolonel has an outstanding solution,\u201d a dig which he used as a reminder to listen to his troops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mattis resigned from the defense secretary post in December after saying Trump deserved a Pentagon leader \u201cwhose views are better aligned with yours.\u201d The two men sparred over Trump\u2019s planned withdrawal from Syria and Afghanistan, as well as a series of surprise policies on transgender recruits and a new military space force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump did give Mattis an original nickname last fall, labeling him as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/2018\/09\/13\/from-mad-dog-to-moderate-dog-mattis-trump-tensions-grow\/\" target=_blank>\u201cmoderate dog\u201d<\/a> as tensions between the two men grew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the weeks since Mattis\u2019 departure, Trump has offered several different versions of what happened in their relationship. He has called Mattis\u2019 departure a retirement and a firing, and said he was \u201cnot too good\u201d at the job despite extensive past praise of Mattis\u2019 work.<\/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\/2019\/01\/02\/trump-insists-he-fired-mattis-says-former-defense-secretary-was-not-too-good-at-the-job\/\" 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\/AP_19002678236470.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\">Trump insists he fired Mattis, says former defense secretary was \u2018not too good&#8217; at the job<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The comments come just two days after the popular former Marine Corps general was forced out of his Defense Department leadership post.<\/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\">Deputy Defense Secretary <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/02\/27\/the-precarious-perch-of-a-potential-pentagon-chief\/\" target=_blank>Patrick Shanahan<\/a> has served as acting defense secretary since Jan. 1. Trump has yet to offer<a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/congress\/2019\/02\/16\/inhofe-says-hes-open-to-shanahan-for-permanent-defense-secretary\/\" target=_blank> a nominee to fill the role permanently<\/a>, which has drawn concern from lawmakers who say that kind of stable leadership is needed to ensure military focus and readiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During the CPAC speech, Trump on several occasions said his policies were helping to rebuild the military, although he\u2019d like to reduce the Defense Department budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c(It\u2019s) $716 billion (for fiscal 2019),\u201d he said. \u201cI have no choice. I\u2019d like to spend much less. (Former President Barack) Obama was spending much less, but our military was being depleted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"200\" height=\"113\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/YBpbTm6i_cU?start=3736&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen title=\"Speech: Donald Trump Delivers a Speech at the 2019 CPAC Convention in Maryland - March 2, 2019\"><\/iframe>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mattis \u2014 who preferred the call sign &#8220;Chaos&#8221; \u2014 has been fighting the &#8220;Mad Dog&#8221; moniker for at least 15 years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":99015,"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":68,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[106,31,15,68,33],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3294],"class_list":["post-29826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-brief","category-home","category-management","category-leadership","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"S4CRGAEMDBDR7O7RUXBVEHZH4I","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/03\/03\/trump-claims-he-coined-the-nickname-mad-dog-mattis\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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