Defense Secretary James "Mad Dog" Mattis is a legend on the battlefield, but he is becoming just as legendary for his relationship with the press. In May, when CBS's John Dickerson asked Mattis what keeps him up at night, he delivered a brilliant, cool-as-a-cucumber response.
"Nothing - I keep other people awake at night," he said.
With senior staffers leaving the White House in droves (Spicer, Bannon, Priebus, etc.), reporters now want to know why Mattis continues to hang around the Pentagon. After all, President Trump is such a controversial figure and one in which he appears to disagree with in a number of areas.
The Pentagon chief told them he has simply answered the call to serve his country.
BREAKING: Why doesn't Mattis quit? Why did he serve? I just asked him. Here's what he said to us minutes ago, on record at the Pentagon: pic.twitter.com/IH7kMol5Qv
— Kevin Baron (@DefenseBaron) August 31, 2017
Mattis recently appeared to be at odds with Trump when it came to their foreign policy on North Korea. The president tweeted that the time for "talking" with Kim Jong Un was over after yet another of the regime's ballistic missile tests. Mattis, however, insisted that they have not run out of diplomatic solutions.
Yet, judging by the above answer, Mattis is more than capable of looking past his disagreements with the president to perform his duties.
"Mad Dog" Mattis is great with the press, but he recently reminded us he's pretty good at his first job too: encouraging our troops.