Mattis pulls out of security conference amid Trump Cabinet speculation

Retired Marine Gen. James Mattis recently backed out of a speaking engagement at a conference in Washington, D.C., amid speculation he could be appointed Defense secretary by President-elect Donald Trump. 

Mattis was listed as a confirmed speaker, according to an original agenda posted to the website for Jamestown Foundation, the host of its Tenth Annual Terrorism Conference taking place on Dec. 14. 

{mosads}However, Mattis informed the Foundation last week he could no longer speak at the conference, according to a source. A Foundation employee confirmed on Monday that there had been changes over the Thanksgiving break and Mattis is no longer on the agenda.

Mattis met with Trump the weekend before Thanksgiving. After the meeting, Trump called him the “real deal” and confirmed Mattis was under consideration for Defense secretary. Later he said in a interview with The New York Times that the retired general did not think waterboarding worked, and suggested he had changed his mind on his campaign promise to bring it back.

The following Monday after the meeting, Mattis exchanged emails with senior leadership of the Center for a New American Security, where he sits on the board, according to the source.

CNAS had done significant planning for national security strategy, including for a new administration’s first 100 days and for its first year.

CNAS President Richard Fontaine said in a phone interview with The Hill on Monday he sees a role for CNAS to influence policy in the Trump administration. 

“Yea, absolutely. Well Gen. Mattis is on the CNAS board, so that’s for starters,” said Fontaine, who said he did not know who the final choice would be. “And it’s not just about Gen. Mattis. We’ve been in touch with folks on the transition team, dating to before the election.”

“We too want the administration to be successful, and this is about the country, and I think we will have a number of points of connectivity with the new administration and with Congress and others as well,” he said. 

Mattis retired as commander of U.S. Central Command in 2013 amid disagreements with the Obama administration on its approach to Iran. Mattis was a vocal critic of the nuclear deal with Iran negotiated by the Obama administration. 

The retired general would need a waiver from Congress to serve as Defense secretary given restrictions on members of the military leading the Pentagon. 

That waiver has been invoked only once before — for Gen. George Marshall, and Mattis’ consideration has caused concern for some who say it weakens the tradition of civilian control over the military.  

But Fontaine, a Republican, said he does not see a problem with appointing Mattis, who incidentally recently co-authored a book on civil-military relations. 

“I think he’d be an extraordinary secretary of Defense. He’s obviously a storied military leader in combat, but he also has a great reputation for inspiring the people who work for him, for speaking truth to power, and as an ideas guy in the realm of military affairs, civil-military relations, defense policy, the Middle East,” he said. 

“And so when you put those qualities together, I think he certainly is a legendary combat leader, but I think he’s a lot more than that, too, so I think he’d be a pretty extraordinary secretary of Defense if he gets the nomination,” he said. 

Fontaine said it’s hard to compare Trump’s interviewing of retired military leaders for top cabinet posts to previous administrations, since most of those interviews were conducted in secrecy. 

CNAS co-founder and CEO Michèle Flournoy –– a Democrat who was expected to become Defense secretary in a Hillary Clinton administration –– said after Mattis’ meeting with Trump that he would be an “outstanding candidate” to lead the Pentagon.  

“Gen. Mattis is a storied and much respected military leader. He’s a student of history. He’s a strategic thinker and he also real passion for the care of the men and women in the U.S. military and their families,” Flournoy, the former No. 3 ranking official at the Pentagon, told NPR on Monday.  

“So I think he would be an outstanding candidate,” she said.

Updated: 2:17 p.m.