President Trump announced Sunday that Defense Secretary Jim Mattis will leave the Trump administration at the beginning of the new year. This is nearly two months earlier than Mattis said he would depart in his resignation letter submitted to the president last week, following Trump's sudden decision to remove U.S. troops from Syria.
According to White House officials, President Trump was unhappy with Mattis' resignation; and according to sources he has grown increasingly angry following the negative media coverage stemming from the defense secretary's criticism of the president.
The President also named Patrick Shanahan as acting Secretary of Defense, who is currently the deputy at the department. In his announcement on Twitter Sunday morning, Trump tweeted, "I am pleased to announce that our very talented Deputy Secretary of Defense, Patrick Shanahan, will assume the title of Acting Secretary of Defense starting January 1, 2019. Patrick has a long list of accomplishments while serving as Deputy, & previously Boeing. He will be great!"
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