Mattis watched the near-dismemberment this year of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, his friend and ally. After White House leaks about Tillerson’s prospective firing, Mattis seemed to embrace him more closely in interagency debates. The controversy around Tillerson was a reminder that there’s no “adult swim” in this administration; Trump owns the pool.

Rumors of Tillerson’s death proved premature: He’s still the administration’s point man on North Korea, traveling to Canada last week to discuss new pressures on Pyongyang, including blacklisting ships that have been evading sanctions. Perhaps by keeping Tillerson in place, Trump perversely wants to show that reports of his troubles were just more “fake news.”

Trump insiders still predict that Tillerson will depart sometime in the new year and that he will be replaced by CIA Director Mike Pompeo. The open, gregarious Pompeo would be an easier fit with Trump, and he appears to have developed a solid working relationship with Mattis as well. Whether Mattis and Pompeo can work well as a team may be crucial for the administration.