Defense Secretary James Mattis had announced a March 1 departure
US Secretary of Defense James Mattis quit in a rift with Donald Trump over exiting Syria and relations with allies earlier this week. He said he would leave March 1.
It turns out he won't need to wait that long as Trump said he would replace him with Patrick Shanahan on January 1. Shanahan was Mattis' top deputy and formerly an executive at Boeing.
For more on Mattis' decision to quit, see this week's coverage on Trump's call with Erdogan.
