Jim Mattis described Trump as ‘a madman in a circular room screaming,’ book reveals

Jim Mattis, former defense secretary in the Trump administration, described the former president as “a madman in a circular room screaming,” a new book reveals.

The revelation was made by Tom Bossert, Donald Trump’s homeland security adviser from 2017 to 2018, and published in The Situation Room: The Inside Story of Presidents in Crisis.

The new book, by journalists George Stephanopolous and Lisa Dickey, covers the history of presidential crises since John F. Kennedy and is expected to be released next week.

Mr. Bossert told the authors that Mr. Trump avoided situation room briefings because he didn’t like having to go to them — and thought generals should come to him instead, according to a study by The Guardian.

“I mean, you couldn’t get Mattis into the White House,” Mr. Bossert said.

Mr. Mattis spent 43 years in the Marine Corps and became commander of U.S. Central Command before retiring in 2013 as a four-star general.

He joined the Trump administration as secretary of defense in 2017, but stayed only a year, resigning following the president’s decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria.

According toAtlantic he told Mr. Trump: “The next secretary of defense is going to have to lose to ISIS. I’m not going to do it.

In 2020, Mr. Mattis also wrote a letter to Atlantic denouncing Mr. Trump’s presidency.

“Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people – does not even pretend to try,” Mr. Mattis wrote.

“Instead, he is trying to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership.”

In his 2020 book Ragejournalist Bob Woodward wrote that General Mattis said Mr. Trump was “unfit” and “dangerous” as president and had “no moral compass.”

Mr. Trump publicly denounced Mr. Mattis, calling him a “mad dog” and saying he was glad he had resigned.

“His main strength was not military, but rather his personal public relations,” Mr. Trump said. said by Mr. Mattis in 2020. “I gave him new life, things to do, and battles to win, but he rarely “brought home the bacon.” I didn’t like his “leadership” style or many other things about him, and many others agree. I’m glad he’s gone!

The crisis room also reveals that Mr. Trump forced his aides to create chyron books, the graphics that appear at the bottom of television news, in order to simplify the news of the day.

The authors called it “surely one of the most prosaic tasks ever required of highly trained intelligence officers serving in the White House,” according to The Guardian.

The independent contacted Mr. Mattis, Mr. Bossert and Mr. Trump’s 2024 campaign for comment.