Defense Secretary Jim Mattis visited the US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Thursday to offer holiday greetings to troops — the first trip there by a Pentagon chief in almost 16 years.

Mattis did not tour the detention facilities or discuss detainee policy options during his stay, which came amid uncertainty over the Trump administration’s policy on continued use of the military prison.

President Trump hasn’t released any Guantanamo prisoners or added any to the list of those who have been officially cleared to go home or to a third country for resettlement.

The last defense chief to visit Guantanamo Bay was Donald Rumsfeld, who went there in January 2002, just weeks after the first detainees arrived from Afghanistan in the early stages of the fight against terror.

The detention center was set up to hold suspected terrorists shortly after the 9/11 attacks.

Of the 41 prisoners who remain in detention, 10 have been charged by a military commission and five have been cleared to leave, but their status is in doubt under the current administration.

That leaves 26 in indefinite confinement, though some could eventually also be cleared for release or be prosecuted.

Lawyers are considering filing new legal challenges, arguing that a policy of no releases means the detainees’ confinement no longer can be legally justified as a temporary wartime measure.

Mattis has said little publicly about Guantanamo Bay since taking office in January.

In response to written questions submitted to him before that hearing, he said: “I believe that we should develop a repeatable detainee policy that is appropriate for enemy combatants taken prisoner under such circumstances.”

US Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who visited the facility in July, underscored the administration’s support for continued use of the prison.

He called it a “perfectly acceptable” place to detain new terrorist suspects, as opposed to holding them in the US and having his own Justice Department try them in civilian courts.

With Post Wires