Mr. Mattis said he assumed that Mr. Baghdadi still “had a role to play” in the organization, but provided no details on what that role was. McMaster, Mr. Trump’s national security adviser, would be leaving that post for an Afghanistan-related assignment. Mr. Trump has said that the discussion lasted far less than an hour. Mr. Mattis said that there was nothing wrong with the president’s seeking out Mr. Putin that evening, and that such dinners were a venue for adversaries to chat. “If you watch me at dinners, you will catch me talking to some ne’er-do-wells,” Mr. Mattis said.

Source: New York Times July 21, 2017 21:57 UTC