U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said President Donald Trump told him he supports the retired Marine general "100%."
The assertion comes just days after Trump mused on national television about Mattis leaving his post, TIME reported.
Mattis said Trump gave him this assurance during a phone call while Mattis was flying from Washington to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on Tuesday. A few hours earlier, Mattis told reporters traveling with him that he and Trump had never discussed the possibility of Mattis leaving the Pentagon job.
Mattis initially was responding to reporters’ questions about Trump’s comments on CBS’ '60 Minutes' Sunday that Mattis "may leave" his administration and that he thinks the retired Marine Corps general is "sort of a Democrat."
Asked what he made of Trump’s comments, in which the president also said he likes Mattis and that eventually all appointees move on, Mattis said, "Nothing at all," adding, "We have never talked about me leaving.'
