Jim Mattis does NOT want to be president, apparently

An obscure US media publication I have never heard of has reported that Jim Mattis, the Defence Secretary, has quiet ambitions to be president and said privately to fellow military types that if he stood against Trump in the 2020 election he would "kick Trump's ass". It's the sort of private comment a would-be president might make to his mates and have a good laugh. The report appeared in an online publication called Beltway Breakfast. Although it's hardly the New York Times or Washington Post, the story received some attention and spread about a bit. So Dana White, Mattis's press secretary, was quick to poo poo it and tell everyone that it caused a laugh in the morning meeting at the Pentagon. Ho ho ho, what a lot of nonsense. She didn't say it was fake news, which was wise on her part, but she did say it was "pure fiction". Obviously only the reporter and his editor at Beltway Breakfast - such a great name for a Washington online news publication - know where this story comes from, whether it's from a source who heard Mattis say it or whether it was a source who heard it from a friend who heard it from his cousin etc. But the interesting thing is the alleged Mattis remark comes amid rumours - just DC Beltway rumours - that Trump is considering dumping Mattis for someone who might be a little more amenable than the retired four-star Marine Corps general. Mattis wasn't involved in Trump's decision to have summits with Kim Jong-un and President Putin, even though he is a crucial member of the cabinet. By all accounts he doesn't like Trump's order to create a separate Space Command and he certainly doesn't want anything to do with the Russian military other than maintain the so-called deconfliction agreement for Syria under which the US and Russia keep in touch about where their military aircraft are flying each day to avoid mid-air crashes or confrontations. But Mattis is a solid performer. He is very very careful not to say anything in public which might anger Trump or indicate he is not in favour of a Trump policy or approach. He is a gold standard defence secretary and pretty popular at the Pentagon and throughout the military. That, of course, can be dangerous when you have a president like Trump in the White House. He wouldn't want to be trumped by Mattis! But I can't believe Mattis has really entertained the thought of standing against his commander-in-chief in 2020. Wherever that supposed remark came from I suspect it was an off-the-cuff comment from someone else in the Pentagon who thought he would stir things up a bit. Either way, the atmosphere in Washington being what it is, it's a dangerous story to have flying around. I somehow doubt Trump had a laugh about it.