WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said in an interview airing Sunday that Defense Secretary Jim Mattis “could be” leaving, referring to him as “sort of a Democrat.”
Mattis, seen as one of the steadiest but also more independent members of Trump’s cabinet, has served as a low-profile counterweight to the president in his often abrasive treatment of US allies.
In an interview to be aired Sunday on CBS’s “60 Minutes,” Trump was asked whether he wanted Mattis to leave.
“It could be that he is. I think he’s sort of a Democrat, if you want to know the truth,” Trump said, according to an excerpt released by CBS. “But General Mattis is a good guy. We get along very well. He may leave. I mean, at some point, everybody leaves.”
Trump said he had lunch with Mattis two days earlier and Mattis, a retired Marine four-star general, had not told him that he was leaving.
The exchange on Mattis came after Trump alluded to upcoming changes in his cabinet, which last week saw the surprise resignation of Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the United Nations.
“I’m changing things around. And I’m entitled to. I have people now on standby that will be phenomenal. They’ll come into the administration, they’ll be phenomenal,” Trump said.
“I think we have a great cabinet. There’re some people that I’m not happy with. I have some people that I’m not thrilled with. And I have other people that I’m beyond thrilled with,” he said.
Trump says Mattis ‘could be’ leaving as US defense chief
Trump says Mattis ‘could be’ leaving as US defense chief
Three more UK pro-Palestinian activists end hunger strike
- The detainees are due to stand trial for alleged break-ins or criminal damage on behalf of the Palestine Action campaign group before it was banned under anti-terrorism laws
LONDON: Three detained pro-Palestinian activists awaiting trial in the UK have ended their hunger strike after 73 days, a campaign group said.
The three began “refeeding” on Wednesday, Prisoners for Palestine said in a statement late on Wednesday.
The decision leaves just one person still on hunger strike who started six days ago, it confirmed to AFP. Four others called off their hunger strike earlier.
The detainees are due to stand trial for alleged break-ins or criminal damage on behalf of the Palestine Action campaign group before it was banned under anti-terrorism laws.
They deny the charges.
The group, aged 20-31, launched their hunger strike in November in protest at their treatment and called for their release from prison on bail as they await trial.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer previously said in parliament that all “rules and procedures” were being followed in their cases.
His government outlawed Palestine Action in July after activists, protesting the war in Gaza, broke into a UK air force base and caused an estimated £7 million ($9.3 million) of damage.
Some of those on hunger strike are charged in relation to that incident.
The inmates’ demands included that the government lift its Palestine Action ban and close an Israel-linked defense firm.
Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori challenged the ban last July, and High Court judges are expected to rule at a later date on whether to uphold the prohibition.
