Mattis becomes Trump clarifier
As in shit strainer?
Defense Secretary James Mattis is quickly earning himself the title of President Trump’s clarifier.
In Trump’s seven-month run, Mattis time and again has deftly shifted the tone and message of the president’s seemingly never-ending stream of off-the-cuff comments.
On topics including torture, the importance of NATO, the regional conflict between Qatar and neighboring countries and leadership confidence in Afghanistan, Mattis has altered Trump’s words into more diplomatic and less emotional messages, without drawing the ire of the commander-in-chief.
“Let’s call Mattis the great clarifier,” said one source close to the Defense secretary. “He’s just providing a more detailed clarification to the president’s statements.”
In his most recent show of savvy, Mattis on Wednesday sought to downplay Trump’s assertion that seemed to rule out a diplomatic solution to North Korean’s missile tests.
http://thehill.com/policy/defense/348933-mattis-becomes-trump-clarifier#bottom-story-socials
