Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said President Trump deserves a Pentagon leader “whose views are better aligned” with the commander-in-chief's, but a search for such a person will be a lot harder after Trump’s decisions on Syria and Afghanistan. But neither candidate seems likely to embrace Trump’s “America First” foreign policy: Both came out against the withdrawal from Syria in strong terms. Trump's appointment of either of them could pave the way toward a repeat of the same policy disagreements the president had with Mattis. Keane is likely to diverge from Trump’s decision that some American troops should be pulled from Afghanistan. Yet just like Keane, Cotton is more aligned with the hawks of the defense establishment and has urged Trump to reconsider the Syria move.

Source: Fox News December 21, 2018 11:03 UTC