Patrick Shanahan, the acting defence secretary, withdrew from the confirmation process for a permanent position to avoid scrutiny of his family’s private life KEVIN LAMARQUE/REUTERSThe launch of President Trump’s re-election campaign was jolted yesterday by the departure of his defence secretary in the midst of the US military stand-off with Iran. Shortly before heading to Florida for his formal 2020 rally, Mr Trump announced that Patrick Shanahan had pulled out of the confirmation process for family reasons, another big departure from an administration bedevilled by record staff turnover. Nine of the top 21 White House and cabinet positions have changed at least once under Mr Trump compared with three at the same point of the Clinton administration, two under Barack Obama and one under George W Bush. Mr Shanahan, 56, a former Boeing executive, wanted to avoid public re-examination of domestic violence incidents including the arrest of his ex-wife…

Source: The Times June 18, 2019 23:01 UTC