He released the letter after a face-to-face meeting with Trump in which the two men also aired their differences, a senior White House official said. Trump ultimately deferred to Mattis, who opposed the latter, signaling that he could be persuaded by his advisers. One possible candidate to replace Mattis as defense chief could be Republican Senator Tom Cotton, long considered a front-runner to eventually take the role. Trump's White House has had the highest turnover of senior-level staff of the past five presidents, according to the Brookings Institution think tank. Stephen Miller, a senior White House adviser, said Trump was entitled to a Pentagon chief with whom he could agree.

Source: The Star December 21, 2018 04:52 UTC