Donald Trump went off on his former Secretary of Defense, Gen. James Mattis, in a White House meeting with lawmakers that alarmed Democrats have described as a “meltdown.”
Trump called Mattis “the world’s most overrated general” when Sen. Chuck Schumer brought up recent comments Mattis that ISIS will resurge if the U.S. abandons Syria, according to the Washington Post’s report on the closed door meeting.
The Daily Beast’s Sam Stein reported that Trump said Mattis “wasn’t tough enough.”
“I captured ISIS. Mattis said it would take 2 yrs. I captured them in 1 month,” Trump said.
Dem Source on WH meeting:
"POTUS cut Schumer off and said that Gen Mattis was: “the world’s most overrated general. You know why? He wasn’t tough enough. I captured ISIS. Mattis said it would take 2 yrs. I captured them in 1 month”"
— Sam Stein (@samstein) October 16, 2019 [1]
Mattis appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press this weekend and warned that “if we don’t keep the pressure on then ISIS will resurge. It’s absolutely a given that they will come back.”
“Well it’s a — it’s in a situation of disarray right now,” said Mattis, who resigned from the Trump administration last year over the president’s Syria policy. “Obviously, the Kurds are adapting to the Turkish attacks. And we’ll have to see if they’re able to maintain the fight against ISIS. It’s going to have an impact, the question is, how much.”
Wednesday’s meeting ended in conflict after Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Trump had a “meltdown.” Democrats claimed that the president disparaged Pelosi as a “third-rate politician,” and the party’s leaders walked out soon after.
The meeting was intended to focus on the response to Turkey as it carries out an offensive in northern Syria that has led to the bloodshed and uncertainty in the region. Trump has dug in on his decision earlier this month to pull U.S. troops out of northern Syria, even as lawmakers in both parties have warned him against the consequences of the move.
That withdrawal paved the way for Turkey to initiate an onslaught against Syrian Kurdish forces that were instrumental in the U.S.-led fight against ISIS. Just before lawmakers left for the meeting, the House passed a resolution in a 354-60 vote that rebuked Trump’s decision to retreat from Syria.