The Atlantic

How Mattis May Get Himself in Trouble With Trump

The secretary of defense could run afoul of his boss if his review of the policy on transgender troops follows the facts to their conclusion.
Source: Aaron Bernstein / Reuters

Washington, D.C., has been especially sensitive to more signs of disloyalty from the president’s advisors ever since both the president’s chief economic advisor and his secretary of state very publicly and clearly broke ranks last week to criticize the president’s response to the violence in Charlottesville.

Some of that sensitivity has extended to the secretary of defense, Jim Mattis, and whether or not he was rebuking the president in an address to some troops overseas or when he held off on for serving in the U.S. military pending a review.

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