memeorandum: A Top Aide's Exit Plan Raises Eyebrows in the White House (New York Times)

7:15 AM ET, December 21, 2018

Top Items:

Helene Cooper / New York Times:

Jim Mattis, Defense Secretary, Resigns in Rebuke of Trump's Worldview — WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, whose experience and stability were widely seen as a balance to an unpredictable president, resigned Thursday in protest of President Trump's decision to withdraw American forces …

Washington Post:

‘A tailspin’: Under siege, Trump propels the government and markets into crisis — President Trump began Thursday under siege, listening to howls of indignation from conservatives over his border wall and thrusting the government toward a shutdown. He ended it by announcing the exit …

Discussion: Axios, CNBC, Politico, The American Spectator, Raw Story, The Daily Caller, The American Conservative, The Daily Beast and Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times

New York Times:

U.S. to Withdraw About 7,000 Troops From Afghanistan, Officials Say — President Trump made the decision at the same time he decided he was pulling American forces out of Syria, one official said. — Turmoil in Congress, National Security and Markets: The State of Play — A lot has happened in the last couple days.

Discussion: Politico

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:

The Year in Trump Freakouts — Jim Mattis is out, the President is leaving Syria without consulting anyone, and that's just this week in crises of the President's own making. — President Trump is ending the year as he began it: outraging Washington with a Twitter diktat, one that was cheered in Moscow and jeered on Capitol Hill.

David Rothkopf / The Daily Beast:

Mattis' Message to the World: Trump Is Out of Control — “Because you have the right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects,” Mattis continued, “I believe it is right for me to step down from my position.”

Discussion: CNN and Washington Free Beacon

The Daily Beast:

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis' Resignation Message to Trump Is Basically ‘F*** This’ — The Pentagon chief quit after Trump announced plans to withdraw troops from Syria and just before he ordered a drawdown in Afghanistan. — By SCOTT BIXBY12.20.18 5:27 PM ET — Jim Mattis had enough.

Discussion: New York Times, Politico, ABC News, Axios and Breitbart

Paul Szoldra / Task & Purpose:

In 2014, Mattis Said What Would Make Him Resign In Protest. In 2018, He Actually Did It — Looking for a great career? Or know another veteran, service member, or military spouse who is? Get started at Hirepurpose. — Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has resigned in protest …

Discussion: New York Times

Axios:

Pre-Christmas Trump: Rebuked, rampaging — The last member of an informal alliance of top Trump officials with enough swat or stature to stand up to President Trump — the Committee to Save America, as Jim VandeHei and I called these officials 16 months ago — resigned in epic fashion.

Discussion: Reuters, Task & Purpose and Mediaite

Wall Street Journal:

Trump Administration Is Considering Substantial Afghan Troop Drawdown — The administration is considering a substantial reduction of troops in Afghanistan and could begin a drawdown in several weeks, officials said.

Discussion: CNN, HuffPost, Breitbart, The Defense Post, KTLA, Raw Story, POLITICUSUSA, Defense One, USNI News, Splinter, The Guardian, Hit & Run, Politico, BuzzFeed News, Task & Purpose, Mediaite and Daily Wire

Nahal Toosi / Politico:
A ‘Never Trumper’ bets on Trump, and loses

Discussion: Raw Story, Defense One, CNN and Washington Post

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
With Mattis out, we're in uncharted territory

Discussion: Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit and twitchy.com

Ali Vitali / NBC News:
‘This is scary’: Mattis' resignation triggers bipartisan chorus of concern on Capitol Hill

Discussion: NPR, Hot Air and AOL

Associated Press: Analysis: As advisers leave, Trump's guardrails come off

Washington Post:
Mattis resigns after clash with Trump over troop withdrawal from Syria and Afghanistan

Discussion: Politico, The Daily Beast, Hot Air, One America News Network, Shareblue Media, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Task & Purpose, Associated Press and Talking Points Memo

Henry Olsen / Washington Post: Trump is now forging foreign policy on his own. Where will he take us?

David A. Graham / The Atlantic:
James Mattis's Final Protest Against the President

Discussion: CNN, ABC News, Breaking Defense, Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit and NY State of Politics

Darlene Superville / Associated Press: Trump's band of ‘my generals’ is disbanding

Alex Ward / Vox:
James Mattis, the last “adult” in the Trump administration, resigns as defense secretary

Discussion: Middle East Eye, POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story, HuffPost and Chicks On The Right

John Podhoretz / Commentary:

What the Mattis Resignation Means — Reading James Mattis's resignation letter, one gets the sense of our secretary of defense serving as a kind of Hans Brinker these past two years—holding his finger in the dike lest the floodwaters drown the town. This week, with the abrupt revelation …

James N. Mattis / Washington Post:

Read the Jim Mattis resignation letter — Dear Mr. President: — I have been privileged to serve as our country's 26th Secretary of Defense which has allowed me to serve alongside our men and women of the Department in defense of our citizens and our ideals.

Discussion: The Daily Signal and The Moderate Voice

David Frum / The Atlantic:

No More Excuses — For almost two full years, James Mattis has provided the nation with a collective security blanket—and national-security-minded Republicans with a credible excuse. Whatever outrageous or weird or even suspicious things President Donald Trump might do …

David French / National Review:
Will the Nation Heed the Warning Jim Mattis Delivered Today?

Discussion: KXLF-TV, Raw Story, KTLA, Mother Jones, Law & Crime and Vox

Washington Post: ‘A sad day for America’: Washington fears a Trump unchecked by Mattis

The Atlantic:
James Mattis's Letter of Resignation

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications and The Root

Washington Post:

Ethics officials said Whitaker should recuse from the Mueller probe, but his advisers told him not to, officials say — A senior Justice Department ethics official concluded acting attorney general Matthew G. Whitaker should recuse from overseeing special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's probe …

Discussion: Bloomberg, Washington Press, emptywheel, Raw Story, Hot Air, Reuters, RedState, Hullabaloo, Lawfare, Townhall, Daily Kos, Vox, National Review and CNN

NBC News:

Mueller may submit report to attorney general as soon as mid-February, say sources — “They clearly are tying up loose ends,” said a lawyer who has been in contact with the Mueller team. — WASHINGTON — Special counsel Robert Mueller is nearing the end of his historic investigation …

Discussion: Law & Crime and The Week

Wall Street Journal:
Schumer Says Mueller Memo Disqualifies Barr From Attorney General Job

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Joe.My.God., New York Magazine, Daily Kos and emptywheel

NBC News:

Founder of viral fundraiser for Trump's border wall has questionable news past — Brian Kolfage told NBC News he didn't want to mention his previous projects because he “didn't want it to be a distraction.” — An internet fundraiser for Donald Trump's border wall took in more than $7 million …

Discussion: Media Matters for America and Snopes.com

New York Times:

A Top Aide's Exit Plan Raises Eyebrows in the White House — WASHINGTON — After weeks of discussions about his future, Zachary D. Fuentes, the 36-year-old deputy White House chief of staff, had a plan. — Mr. Fuentes told colleagues that after his mentor, John F. Kelly …

Josh Rogin / Washington Post:

Trump is leaving 50,000 Syrian civilians to die — President Trump's surprise decision to rapidly withdraw all U.S. troops from Syria is meeting with intense criticism by foreign policy experts, who denounce it as strategically stupid, reckless for national security and a blow to America's global credibility.

Discussion: Sulome Anderson, Washington Press, Test Feed Using Fields, New York Times and Washington Free Beacon

Liz Sly / Washington Post:
This time, the United States is betraying more than just the Kurds, allies say

Discussion: AOL

BuzzFeed News:
Mattis Isn't The Only One Worried About Allies And Rivals In Syria

Discussion: The American Spectator, Breitbart, New York Times, National Review, Power Line, Daily Wire and ThinkProgress

Missy Ryan / Washington Post:
White House weighs whether to continue airstrikes in Syria after troops withdraw

Discussion: Hot Air

Victoria Nuland / Washington Post:
In a single tweet, Trump destroys U.S. policy in the Middle East

Discussion: The Hill, The Times of Israel, The Week and Mother Jones

Paul Kane / Washington Post:

In budget brinkmanship, Republicans once again hold themselves hostage — House Republicans are ending their eight-year run in the majority exactly the way it began — grabbing a hostage and seeking ransom. — This week's standoff, like so many others this decade, pits an alienated House GOP caucus …

Jordain Carney / The Hill:
Trump shutdown moves leave GOP senators in disbelief

Discussion: Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress and Booman Tribune

Ted Barrett / CNN:
‘Are you ruining my life?’: Republican senators in disbelief over Trump shutdown threat

Discussion: Raw Story, Washington Post, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times, The Mahablog, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Hullabaloo

Washington Post:

As stocks drop, Trump fears he's losing his best argument for re-election — President Trump has kept an almost obsessive watch on the stock market as it has lurched lower in recent weeks. — He has complained to aides how unfair it is that he is blamed for the market's slide …

Josh Boak / Associated Press: Stock market woes raise a nagging fear: Is a recession near?

Thomas Franck / CNBC:
Dow falls 400 points as stocks continue to get hit after Fed rate hike, Nasdaq enters bear market

Discussion: Raleigh News & Observer, CNN, Investor's Business Daily, Washington Monthly, The New Civil Rights Movement and HuffPost

BuzzFeed News:

Russian Agents Sought Secret US Treasury Records On Clinton Backers During 2016 Campaign — US Treasury Department officials used a Gmail back channel with the Russian government as the Kremlin sought sensitive financial information on its enemies in America and across the globe, according to documents reviewed by BuzzFeed News.