Mattis becomes Trump clarifier

Defense Secretary James Mattis is quickly earning himself the title of President Trump’s clarifier.

In Trump’s seven-month run, Mattis time and again has deftly shifted the tone and message of the president’s seemingly never-ending stream of off-the-cuff comments.

On topics including torture, the importance of NATO, the regional conflict between Qatar and neighboring countries and leadership confidence in Afghanistan, Mattis has altered Trump’s words into more diplomatic and less emotional messages, without drawing the ire of the commander-in-chief.

{mosads}“Let’s call Mattis the great clarifier,” said one source close to the Defense secretary. “He’s just providing a more detailed clarification to the president’s statements.”

In his most recent show of savvy, Mattis on Wednesday sought to downplay Trump’s assertion that seemed to rule out a diplomatic solution to North Korean’s missile tests.

Trump tweeted Wednesday morning that the United States “has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. Talking is not the answer!” 

The former Marine Corps general said later that day when asked about the tweet, “We’re never out of diplomatic solutions.”

“I would not say that he has any sense of a disloyal position, I think that he expresses in a terminology that he feels it fits,” the source close to Mattis said of the secretary’s message delivery. “He’s very methodical in his process.”

It’s no secret Mattis has remained a favorite of Trump’s even as the notoriously unpredictable president has soured on a number of administration officials.

“I think they communicate to each other very openly, very clearly, even warmly,” the source told The Hill.

That open dialogue, which includes frequent working dinners and regular phone calls and meetings, has earned Mattis significant leeway in interpreting Trump’s public and Twitter comments.

Mattis’s savvy became apparent within the first few weeks after Trump’s election. The retired Marine Corps general, who has long disapproved of using torture to gather intelligence, prompted Trump to change his tune after meeting with him to discuss the Defense secretary position.

“Mattis said that he doesn’t intend to use [torture]. I’m with him all the way,” Trump later said in an interview on Fox News in January.

The secretary also opposed Trump’s early views that NATO was “obsolete” and later placated world leaders after Trump did not reaffirm America’s commitment to the military alliance while at an opening ceremony for NATO’s new Brussels headquarters in May.

“To quote a British observer of us from some years back, bear with us,” Mattis said at the Asian security forum in Singapore when asked about Trump’s omission and recent pledge to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement.

“Once we have exhausted all possible alternatives, the Americans will do the right thing.” 

More recently, when Trump reportedly sought to fire the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Jon Nicholson, because the United States is “losing” the war, Mattis defended the general while not disparaging Trump’s view.

“I will tell you right now, he is our commander in the field, he has the confidence of NATO, he has the confidence of Afghanistan, he has the confidence of the United States,” Mattis told reporters earlier this month when asking if Trump has confidence in Nicholson.

“The president, again, is looking at all aspects of our effort over there, as he must in his responsibilities as the commander-in-chief.”

One source familiar with the situation said Mattis’s interpretations are simply “holding the line until a semblance of normalcy is restored during the tumultuous first year of this administration.”

“I believe [Mattis] hopes that once the administration gets its feet under it and learns D.C., that things will get better and move toward the campaign agenda.”

Mattis also is adept at responding when faced with criticism that he is pushing back on Trump’s assertions.

He himself called the idea that he contradicted Trump “ludicrous” and “widely misinterpreted.”

“I was asked if there were any diplomatic efforts left, and I said of course,” Mattis told reporters at the Pentagon on Thursday. “It didn’t contradict anything the president said. We’re not talking to the North Koreans right now.”

He continued, “I can’t help people who misinterpret things. I’ll do my best to call it like I see it, but right now if I say six and the president says half-a-dozen, they’re gonna say I disagree with him.”

The secretary did admit that there are issues he and the president disagree on but revealed the division of opinions in a complimentary tone.

“The first time I met with President Trump, we disagreed on three things in my first 40 minutes with him, on NATO, on torture and something else, and he hired me. This is not a man who’s immune to being persuaded if he thinks you’ve got an argument,” Mattis said.

When asked about critics who say he and other national security leaders should step down when Trump makes divisive remarks, Mattis pointed to service to the greater good.

“You know, when a president of the United States asks you to do something, I come — I don’t think it’s an old-fashioned school at all I don’t think it’s old-fashioned or anything. I don’t care if it’s Republican or Democrat, we all have an obligation to serve. That’s all there is to it.”