Jim Mattis

The rule about the waiver was established over fears that a former general might be too familiar with soldiers still in active duty.

The former U.S. Defense Secretary said of the fired Inspector General, "He proved to be a leader whose personal and managerial integrity were always of the highest order."

"Staying silent will only lead observers to infer that you care more about book royalties than, you know, who should be the president of the United States," Daniel W. Drezner wrote.

"These are relationships that we've developed over the course of seven decades," Guy Snodgrass said, "over a very short amount of time, we've put those at risk."

"I want a 'Victory Day.' Just like Veterans Day. The Fourth of July is too hot," the president reportedly said. "I want vehicles and tanks on Main Street. On Pennsylvania Avenue, from the Capitol to the White House. We need spirit!"

"By abandoning the Kurds we have sent the most dangerous signal possible – America is an unreliable ally," the Republican senator from South Carolina argued.

The former defense secretary should learn from George Marshall about weighing silence against warning of a clear and present danger.

The retired general also said a May tweet from Trump about North Korea and Joe Biden was "counterproductive and beneath the dignity of the presidency."

"Let's start with the fact that instead of solving Middle East peace, Jared nearly put us into a war in the region," Vicky Ward, author of "Kushner, Inc.," alleged.

Anthony Zinni's decision makes him the latest four-star general to depart from the Trump administration, following close behind the December announcement of General James Mattis, who served as secretary of defense.

Jim Webb, the former Virginia senator and Reagan-era Navy secretary, is reportedly on the short list of names to replace Jim Mattis as defense secretary.

Trump's controversial decision led to the resignation of Secretary of Defense General Jim Mattis and Brett McGurk, the U.S. envoy to the coalition fighting the Islamic State militant group.

"If they [Republicans] break as a group, the president is totally on an island, totally unprotected from [Special Counsel Robert] Mueller, totally unprotected from a lot of things," Chuck Todd said.

"People are really bummed," a Pentagon official told The Hill.

This surprise visit was his fourth visit to the country.

About 1,200 U.S. troops are on the continent, but resources are being shifted to tackling threats from China and Russia.

Previous reports have highlighted how the U.S. even deports veterans who join the military as non-citizens.

The defense secretary also defended the cancellation of joint military exercises, saying the move would create "increased opportunity for our diplomats to negotiate."

Xi warned Mattis on Wednesday that China "cannot lose even one inch of the territory left behind by our ancestors."

Mattis is the first Pentagon chief to visit China since 2014.

The Pentagon's decision to move forward with the plan signals growing support from the military for Trump's hard-line immigration policies.

President Trump's ambivalence toward the Unites States Forces Korea (USFK) is in stark contrast with Seoul's position.

The Pentagon chief defined the final goal of the conflict as political reconciliation between the warring parties rather than a military victory.

The researcher criticized the North Korea crisis talks co-hosted by the U.S. and Canada in Vancouver earlier this month.

The move follows a similar change to the National Security Strategy released by Trump in December.

While Pyongyang has its own propaganda ambitions in mind, Seoul will have to balance its neighbor with its major ally, the U.S.

The president said that he "totally changed the rules of engagement" in the fight against ISIS, but failed to acknowledge the contribution of local forces.

Pyongyang routinely condemns the exercises as an example of hostility from the U.S. and its "puppet" in Seoul.

He may have presented a unconcerned face to the media, but President Trump remains ambivalent about his adviser's future in the White House.

Kim said he would "watch a little more the foolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees."