Mattis calls international alliances ‘critical’ after Trump’s UN speech

Defense Secretary James Mattis on Wednesday stressed the importance of international cooperation just one day after President Trump said in his first speech to the United Nations that he would prioritize U.S. interests.

Mattis during an Air Force conference in Maryland pointed to the international coalition of 69 nations working to defeat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria as an example of successful partnerships with other nations. 

He also called for the U.S. to be more open to alternative ideas from its allies abroad in remarks at the Air Force Association’s Air, Space and Cyber Conference in Maryland Wednesday morning.

{mosads}”Never did I fight in an all-American formation. I’ve always fought alongside coalition partners,” Mattis said. He added that the United States needs to do more than just listen to its allies, arguing that a successful partnership involves compromise.

“We must be willing to do more than to listen to our allies, we must be willing to be persuaded by them,” Mattis said. “There is a whale of a difference between listening to somebody else’s different idea and then going right on about the way you were going to do it and being willing to be persuaded.”

“Not all good ideas come from country with the most aircraft carriers,” he added.

Trump stressed in his inaugural speech to world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly that America will no longer be “taken advantage of” by other countries, but will remain a “great friend” to its allies.

“The United States will forever be a great friend to the world and especially its allies,” he said. “But we can no longer be taken advantage of or enter into a one-sided deal where the United States gets nothing in return,” Trump said Tuesday in New York.

“As long as I hold this office, I will defend America’s interest above all else.”