In an interview to New York Times, United States President Donald Trump stated that he asked former Defense Secretary James Mattis to resign because he "wasn't happy with the job that he was doing at all."
Stating that he asked Mattis to write a letter, Trump said, "So I wasn't happy with Mattis. I told Mattis to give me a letter. He didn't just give me that letter. I told him."
The US President further said, "I didn't like the job he was doing. I wasn't happy with it. I wasn't happy with the - I got him more money than the military has ever seen before. And I wasn't happy with the job that he was doing at all. And I said it's time."
Mattis had announced that he would be stepping down from his position in Pentagon in December and was scheduled to leave office in February. However, Trump appointed Patrick Shanahan as the acting US Secretary of Defense following Mattis' resignation.
Mattis resigned after Trump hinted at the withdrawal of US troops from Syria, thereby declaring the defeat of ISIS.
"Because you have the right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects, I believe it is right for me to step down from my position," Mattis wrote in his resignation letter.