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| Trump names Patrick Shanahan acting defence secretary | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Deputy Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan has been appointed acting Pentagon chief, President Donald Trump has announced. | Deputy Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan has been appointed acting Pentagon chief, President Donald Trump has announced. |
| The move follows the resignation of James Mattis, who hinted at policy differences with Mr Trump when he stepped down on Friday. | |
| General Mattis, 68, said the president had the right to appoint someone "whose views are better aligned with yours". | |
| Mr Shanahan will take over on 1 January, an earlier date than expected. | |
| Gen Mattis had been expected to leave the job in February, but on Sunday it was reported that the president had been considering removing him early. | |
| "Patrick has a long list of accomplishments," Mr Trump tweeted when announcing his decision. "He will be great!" | |
| Shortly after posting this, he shared details of a "productive call" he had had with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey. | |
| Mr Trump said the pair had discussed "our mutual involvement in Syria, & the slow and highly coordinated" withdrawal of US troops from the country. | |
| Gen Mattis resigned shortly after President Trump announced the decision to withdraw all troops from Syria. | |
| While not mentioning it in his resignation letter directly, he is understood to oppose the decision and has previously warned that an early withdrawal would be a "strategic blunder". |