'Mad Dog' Mattis is in the running for Secretary of Defense, and Trump sounds pretty stoked

By Saagar Enjeti, DCNF

President-elect Donald Trump confirmed Sunday Retired Marine Gen. James Mattis is being considered for secretary of defense.

General James “Mad Dog” Mattis, who is being considered for Secretary of Defense, was very impressive yesterday. A true General’s General!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 20, 2016

Trump’s transition team reported that Vice-President elect Mike Pence and Trump were “very impressed” by Mattis and called him the “real deal” in a readout provided to reporters. The readout continued, “They had an incredibly in-depth conversation on plans for national security. The discussion included ISIS, the Middle East, North Korea, China, NATO and other hotspots around the world.”

Mattis served 44 years in the Marine Corps, and generally remains adamantly against getting involved in politics.

Mattis retired from the USMC in 2013, and would need a special congressional waiver if nominated by Trump to serve as defense secretary. Title 10 of the U.S. Code requires the secretary of defense be out of military uniform for a period longer than 7 years to reinforce the norm of civilian control.

Trump reportedly offered the national security advisor post to Retired Army Gen. Michael Flynn, who served as Trump’s top national security surrogate throughout the campaign.

Follow Saagar Enjeti on Twitter

Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].

DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW

Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!