Defense Secretary James Mattis says he ‘never’ discussed leaving job with Trump

Thomas Maresca | Special to USA Today

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis arrived in Vietnam on Tuesday, seeking to boost ties with Hanoi against a backdrop of China’s growing military assertiveness in the region – and he dismissed the idea that he’s leaving the Trump administration anytime soon.

Mattis said he gets along well with his commander in chief.

In an interview Sunday on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” President Donald Trump told Lesley Stahl he had a “very good relationship” with Mattis, but “I think he's sort of a Democrat, if you want to know the truth.”

“He may leave,” Trump continued. “I mean, at some point, everybody leaves. Everybody. People leave. That's Washington.”

Mattis said Tuesday that he made “nothing at all” of Trump’s comments. “I’m on his team,” he said. “We have never talked about me leaving. And as you can see right here, we’re on our way. We just continue doing our job.”

During his flight to Vietnam, Mattis spoke about Washington’s relationship with Vietnam and expressed concern about China’s placement of military bases on some of its artificial islands in the South China Sea.

Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the entire sea, which is home to oil and natural gas reserves, fisheries and some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. Vietnam and several other countries have overlapping claims with China.

Mattis criticized what he called China’s “predatory economic behavior,” in which massive debt is placed on developing countries to pay for Chinese-funded infrastructure projects.

In a policy speech this month, Vice President Mike Pence accused Beijing of meddling in upcoming U.S. elections and condemned China’s aggressive moves in the South China Sea.

“Our message to China’s rulers is this: This president will not back down,” Pence said Oct. 4 at the Hudson Institute in Washington.

Mattis softened the administration's tone slightly Tuesday, saying, “Obviously, we're not out to contain China.”

"There's going to be times we step on each other's toes, so we're going to have to find a way to productively manage our relationship,” he said.

Tensions between the United States and China have flared periodically in the disputed waters of the South China Sea. The most recent example was a near-collision between a U.S. Navy warship and a Chinese destroyer Sept. 30. The warship USS Decatur was conducting a freedom of navigation operation about 12 nautical miles away from a pair of reefs in the Spratly Islands when a Chinese destroyer approached in what the Pentagon called an “unsafe and unprofessional maneuver.”

Beijing routinely condemns the U.S. freedom of navigation operations, claiming they threaten China’s sovereignty and security.

Mattis arrived Tuesday in Ho Chi Minh City, the southern metropolis formerly known as Saigon, and was scheduled to meet with his Vietnamese counterpart, Defense Minister Ngo Xuan Lich. He will visit Bien Hoa airbase Wednesday. The airbase, north of Ho Chi Minh City, is the site of a U.S.-sponsored cleanup of Agent Orange, the herbicide used in the Vietnam War that was linked to serious illnesses and birth defects.

It's the second time this year Mattis has visited Vietnam, marking the growing significance of the relationship between the two former adversaries. In March, the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson made a port call to Da Nang, the first such visit since the end of the Vietnam War.

Vietnam "is a growing defense partner in a number of ways,” Mattis said.

Trump says he's unsure if Mattis will stay: 'He's sort of a Democrat' President Trump already seems to be hinting another crucial member of his team could also be heading for the door. Nathan Rousseau Smith has the story.

The trip is part of an effort by Washington to build a coalition to counter China in the region, Vietnam expert Carlyle Thayer, emeritus professor at the University of New South Wales Canberra, wrote in a policy note.

“Secretary Mattis will seek to develop ad hoc coalitions of regional states, including Vietnam, to push back against China,” Thayer wrote. “Vietnam will now face a more confrontational environment between China and the United States both globally and regionally.”

After Vietnam, Mattis will head to Singapore for a regional meeting of defense ministers Thursday through Saturday.

Mattis had been scheduled to visit China as part of the trip, but that plan was changed as trade and defense disputes intensified between Washington and Beijing.