James Mattis Greets John Bolton With a Joke

Mattis

Mattis

James Mattis, the U.S. secretary of defense, starts off his meeting with the president’s newly national appointed security adviser with a joke.

In Arlington, Virginia, on March 29, 2018, John Bolton was chosen by President Donald Trump as his new national security adviser. He and Mattis met at the pentagon. The secretary of defense proceeded to break the ice with a funny remark of how he wanted to meet with the newly appointed adviser because others described Bolton as the devil’s incarnate.

Although the comment could have been taken very differently, Bolton instead was humored by the comment and laughed with Mattis while entering the building.

Following Trump’s decision to appoint the position to Bolton, Mattis was perceived by others as having concerns over whether the two men would clash over “key issues like North Korea and Iran.” For instance, as a retired marine war general, when receiving threats from North Korea, Bolton argued that military intervention was necessary and made public that the Obama-era nuclear deal should be abandoned, of which Mattis was against.

However, the U.S. secretary of defense tries to push these major disagreements to the side by claiming a partnership between the two is possible. Since Bolton is an American, Mattis has expressed there is a hope of them working together orderly, saying that “Last time I checked he’s an American. I can work with an American…It’s going to be a partnership.”

Written by Brielle Buford
Edited by Jeanette Smith

Source

CNN: Mattis told new national security advisor John Bolton that he heard he was the ‘devil incarnate’ in off-mic moment when they first met at the Pentagon

Featured and Top Image Courtesy of James N. Mattis’ Flickr Page – Creative Commons License

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