James Mattis needs to be protected by his commander-in-chief

There are worrying signs that Donald Trump has stopped keeping Jim Mattis in the loop. The supremely baggy-eyed defence secretary appears to have been caught on the hop on a number of occasions recently, the most serious of which was the president's off-the-cuff decision to cancel the joint US/South Korean annual military exercises to please Kim Jong-un. The Pentagon spokeswoman, when asked, tried to suggest there had been consultation. But I think she was being diplomatic for the sake of her boss. Trump's unexpected offer certainly took the South Korean government by surprise, and it will head the agenda when Mattis visits Seoul after his trip to Beijing this week. Mattis was also against the forming of a US space force but Trump demanded it anyway, and he wanted America to stay with the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement and we know what happened there. Trump does what he wants and I suspect he is beginning to feel, "Well, there's no point discussing the matter with Mattis because he will be against it, so let's go ahead without him." If this is what is happening it's a grave mistake on Trump's part. Mattis has stuck loyally with him from the moment he was appointed to be Pentagon chief although there must have been occasions when he just wanted to chuck it all in. But Mattis, it is important to remember, is a retired four-star Marine Corps general, and they don't get much more loyal and tough than that. Trump is his commander-in-chief and he will do the job he has been given to do to the very best of his ability. That does not include any thoughts of resignation, unless of course Trump tells him he no longer has confidence in him. Until that happens, Mattis should be treated with the respect he deserves and kept totally in the loop. There's no point having a trusted cabinet member and adviser if you don't bother even to tell him about a dramatic change in defence policy until after it has been announced. Mattis has a tricky assignment in China this week. He needs to be tough about China's blatant military expansion on the disputed islands in the South China Sea, but at the same show a degree of deference towards his Chinese hosts because of their crucial role in handling Kim Jong-un and marching him towards denuclearisation. Mattis is a good listener and I'm sure he will be careful in his choice of words. But Beijing knows that Trump has not been altogether open with his defence secretary and has gone against his advice on several occasions. That gives Beijing an edge when the issue of the South China Sea islands comes up for discussion. Best advice for Mattis is to relax a bit. He often looks so stiff and solemn. But at a US Naval War College graduation ceremony over the weekend he joked about needing a glass of vodka to help clear his throat when addressing the students. His whole face changed when he grinned. A bit of diplomatic grinning in Beijing might do the trick. Even President Xi Zinping has been caught smiling on occasions.