Al Drago-Pool/Getty Images, FILEPresident Donald Trump speaks about three hostages released from North Korea, during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, May 9, 2018.
“He got more and more annoyed over time,” the official said.
(MORE: In resignation letter to Trump, Mattis warns against getting too close to ‘authoritarian’ countries)
Trump was also feeling pressure from his family and other confidantes, who pressured him to cut Mattis loose earlier, an outside advisor to the president told ABC News.
“How can you let him stay when he’s been so disrespectful to you?” they asked Trump, according to the advisor.
That, combined with what sources describe as a frayed relationship with Mattis, led to Sunday’s tweet and the earlier end date for Mattis’ departure, the White House official and outside advisor told ABC News.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images, FILEDefense Secretary James Mattis testifies before the House Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., April 12, 2018.
In his announcement on Twitter Sunday morning, the president also named Patrick Shanahan as acting Secretary of Defense, who is currently the deputy at the department.
“I am pleased to announce that our very talented Deputy Secretary of Defense, Patrick Shanahan, will assume the title of Acting Secretary of Defense starting January 1, 2019,” Trump tweeted. “Patrick has a long list of accomplishments while serving as Deputy, & previously Boeing. He will be great!”
Shanahan, a former senior vice president of Boeing, has been focused on the Department of Defense’s budget and the Space Force during his time as deputy.
Col. Rob Manning, the head of Defense Press Operations, said the “secretary of defense serves at the pleasure of the president.”
Erik S Lesser/EPA via ShutterstockDeputy Secretary of Defense Patrick M. Shanahan speaks to the news media in Arlington, Va., Dec. 19, 2018.
“The department remains focused on national security,” he said.
The announcement comes just a few days after Mattis’ abrupt resignation. In his letter to the president announcing his resignation, Mattis said he would be on until the end of February.
He had intended to testify on Capitol Hill and attend a NATO defense ministerial.
(MORE: Defense Secretary James Mattis to retire)
“The end date for my tenure is February 28, 2019, a date that should allow sufficient time for a successor to be nominated and confirmed as well as to make sure the Department’s interests are properly articulated and protected at upcoming events to include Congressional posture hearings and the NATO Defense Ministerial meeting in February,” Mattis wrote.
Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina thanked Mattis on Twitter for a “lifetime of exceptional and dedicated service to our nation.”
“I know he will continue to contribute to our national security for many years to come,” he wrote.
Sourse: abcnews.go.com
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