NBC晚间新闻 特朗普决定让马蒂斯提前两个月离职（在线收听）

President Trump didn't tell mattis himself, instead, according to defense and administration officials, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had to make the call this morning. Afterward the president made the firing public, tweeting Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan will assume the title of Acting Secretary of Defense starting January 1st 2019. Mr. Trump is frustrated, according to several administration sources, specifically at reports which said mattis was quote "the last adult in the room".

The two were increasingly at odds, but the president's decision to withdraw troops from Syria was the breaking point for the defense secretary. Mattis's resignation letter offered a clear rebuke of the president's worldview, particularly the treatment of NATO allies. Mattis wrote the president deserved a Secretary of Defense whose views were better aligned with his. The president took a swipe at Madison Saturday on Twitter, mentioning his previous firing in the Obama administration. Given mattis's popularity at the Pentagon, other departures may follow. Shanahan who takes over as Acting Secretary on New Year's Day spent three decades as an executive at Boeing and the last 17 months of the Pentagon focused on cutting wasteful spending.

根据国防部和政府官员的消息，唐纳德·特朗普总统没有告诉马蒂斯让他提前离职的决定，国务卿迈克·蓬佩奥不得不在今天早上打电话告诉马蒂斯这一消息。然后，特朗普总统在推特上公开宣布了解雇马蒂斯的消息，他写道，美国国防部副部长帕特里克·沙纳汉将于2019年1月1日起担任代理国防部长。政府消息来源称，特朗普现在很懊恼，尤其是对一些说马蒂斯是房间里最后一个成年人的报道。此前，特朗普总统和国防部长马蒂斯的分歧越来越大，但是特朗普总统从叙利亚撤军成为了马蒂斯辞职的导火索。马蒂斯在他的辞职信里对特朗普总统的世界观进行了明确的谴责，尤其是总统对北约同盟国的做法。马蒂斯写道，特朗普总统理应任命一位与他的观点更为一致的国防部长。周六，特朗普总统在推特上猛烈回击了马蒂斯，在其中他提到了马蒂斯在奥巴马政权任职时被解雇的事情。鉴于马蒂斯在国防部的声望，紧接着可能会有其他部门的人离职。在新年第一天接任代理国防部长的沙纳汉在波音公司担任了30年的高管，在最近的17个月里则是担任国防部副部长，专注于削减浪费性支出。