President Trump
Donald John TrumpTrump: New York won't receive COVID-19 vaccine immediately Biden considering Yellen as possible Treasury secretary: report Trump puts Giuliani in charge of election lawsuits: report MORE Thursday evening slammed John Kelly
John Francis KellyMORE, his former chief of staff, for defending James Mattis
James Norman MattisProgressive House Democrats urge Biden against Defense chief with contractor ties Trump fires Defense chief Mark Esper Talk grows of Trump firings at Pentagon, CIA MORE, his former Defense secretary, after Mattis criticized the president for his response to the nationwide protests.
"John Kelly didn’t know I was going to fire James Mattis, nor did he have any knowledge of my asking for a letter of resignation," he tweeted, saying that Kelly, who stepped down from his role as the president's chief of staff in 2018, wasn't part of Trump's "inner-circle," by that point.
...in my inner-circle, was totally exhausted by the job, and in the end just slinked away into obscurity. They all want to come back for a piece of the limelight!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 4, 2020
Kelly earlier on Thursday refuted Trump's claim that he had fired Mattis from his post in 2018, telling The Washington Post “[t]he president did not fire him. He did not ask for his resignation."
"The problem with asking for someone to give you a letter of resignation, which you do as a courtesy to help them save face, is that it is then harder to say you fired them," Trump said in a following tweet. "I did fire James Mattis. He was no good for Obama, who fired him also, and was no good for me!"
The problem with asking for someone to give you a letter of resignation, which you do as a courtesy to help them save face, is that it is then harder to say you fired them. I did fire James Mattis. He was no good for Obama, who fired him also, and was no good for me!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 4, 2020
Trump, in response, called Mattis the “world’s most overrated general,” swiping at his leadership capabilities and claiming his strength was not his military prowess “but rather personal public relations.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski
Lisa Ann MurkowskiObama 'troubled' by GOP attempts to cast doubt on election results: 'That's a dangerous path' On The Money: Biden, Democratic leaders push for lame-duck coronavirus deal | Business groups shudder at Sanders as Labor secretary | Congress could pass retirement bill as soon as this year Controversial Trump nominee Judy Shelton to pass Senate next week MORE (R-Alaska) said that she agreed with Mattis, adding that she is "struggling" with deciding if she will vote for Trump.
In response to Murkowski's wavering support, Trump tweeted that he would campaign against her when she's up for reelection in 2022.
