President Donald Trump plans to nominate Patrick Shanahan, a former Boeing Co executive, as his defence secretary, the White House said on Thursday, breaking with tradition by choosing someone who made a career at a top defence company as Pentagon chief. He has been acting defence secretary since January, the longest in Pentagon history. On his first day as acting Pentagon chief in January, Shanahan told civilian leaders of the US military to focus on "China, China, China." BOEING TIESShanahan has been serving in an acting capacity since the start of the year, making him the longest acting defence secretary ever. During Shanahan`s Senate confirmation hearing to be deputy defence secretary in 2017, the committee`s then-chairman, John McCain, voiced deep concern about giving the deputy job to an executive from one of the five corporations accounting for the lion’s share of US defence spending.

Source: Ethiopian News May 10, 2019 06:45 UTC