Read Defense Secretary Jim Mattis' resignation letter

"We cannot protect our interests ... without maintaining strong alliances and showing respect to those allies," he wrote.

December 21, 2018 at 12:52AM
Part of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis' resignation letter to President Donald Trump is photographed in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 20, 2018. Mattis is stepping down from his post, Trump announced, after the retired Marine general clashed with the president over a troop drawdown in Syria and Trump's go-it-alone stance in world affairs.
Part of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis' resignation letter to President Donald Trump. (Associated Press/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
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