David Petraeus suggests he wouldn’t serve in Trump administration

Retired Gen. David Petraeus said Monday that he doesn’t “envision” returning to a government position, and said his views don’t align with President Trump’s on foreign affairs.

“I think there does have to be policy alignment [with Trump,] and I’m not sure that exists, I’m afraid,” Petraeus said on BBC Radio 4 when asked if he’d be willing to replace James Mattis as Defense Secretary, as first reported by Time magazine.

Mattis resigned in December in a letter that said Trump deserved to have a Defense secretary with views that aligned with his own. The decision came as Trump announced the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria and a reduction in the U.S. presence in Afghanistan.

{mosads}Petraeus, who previously served as former President Obama’s CIA Director, added that he “cannot envision returning to government at this time.” 

“It’s not unreasonable to ask after 17 years of war, ‘is this the best way to go about it,’ ” Petraeus said. “It doesn’t mean that I agree, necessarily, with the recent decisions, but to be truthful we don’t know the details of the policy yet.”