James Mattis:
Let me answer that in two ways, Judy.
First, I believe that, when someone departs an administration over policy differences, you have what the French call a duty of reserve, a devoir de reserve.
I don't want to, on the outside, be making it more difficult for our secretary of defense, secretary of state and president who have to deal with this very complex world. There will be a time when it's right for me to come out on strategy and policy disagreements.
But I was clear in my letter of resignation that I believed in having alliances and staying true to alliances. And I think that, as we look at the importance of alliances, this is critical that we work with our allies.
For example, when this town was attacked on 9/11, I was joined on the battlefield very quickly by troops from Canada and the United Kingdom, Norway and Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Jordan, and Turkey, not because their city had been attacked, because we had been attacked.
So we need to hold our allies close. In this world, if you study history, nations with allies thrive, and nations without allies wither. And that's a reality.
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