Former secretary of defense Jim Mattis told aides he would rather 'swallow acid' than allow Trump to throw a $50million 'Victo...
Former secretary of defense Jim Mattis told aides he would rather 'swallow acid' than allow Trump to throw a $50million 'Victory Parade', and said the president's summit with Putin was a display of the White House seeking 'instant gratification', a new book reveals.
Mattis, who was known as 'Mad Dog' during his career in the military, resigned in December 2018 following Trump's decision to withdraw US troops from Syria.
The defense chief's former speechwriter Guy Snodgrass has detailed his clashes with the president in new book, Holding The Line: Inside Trump's Pentagon With Secretary Mattis, obtained by DailyMail.com ahead of its publication next week.
At one point Mattis was frank with a group of reporters about Trump telling them: 'I'm not trying to put lipstick on a pig for you,' retired Navy Cmdr. Guy Snodgrass writes.
Former Secretary of Defense Jim 'Mad Dog' Mattis's clashes with President Trump are detailed in a new book, written by his former speechwriter Guy Snodgrass. Mattis resigned as defense chief in December 2018
The new book claims Mattis was critical of the Russia-US Summit in Helsinki last July, in which the president met face to face with Vladmir Putin. Mattis allegedly said the meeting showed a lack of strategy from the White House
Mattis's view of America's role as the world's policeman collided with Trump's policy of pulling American troops back home, or demanding other nations pay for them to stay in post.
The retired Marine Corps general became one of the most respected in the military who oversaw campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan under former President Obama and George W. Bush.
Guy Snodgrass, a retired Navy commander, served as Mattis's speechwriter
His nickname was 'Warrior Monk' and he was known as a tough-talking intellectual who quoted Homer and Sun Tzu and took books by Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius on the front lines.
Trump lapped all this up and hired Mattis in January 2017 to join his new administration.
Mattis was dubbed one of the 'adults in the room' in the White House cabinet who would keep Trump in check - but right from the jump there was tension.
The book says that Mattis was 'blindsided' when Trump announced his controversial ban on travelers from Muslim countries during the first few weeks of his presidency in the Pentagon's Hall of Heroes.
Snodgrass claims it could even have been a 'calculated insult to Mattis himself', as six months earlier Mattis had criticized such a move.
The book claims Mattis tried to respect his commander-in-chief but struggled to understand him and at one point asked his office to boil down the key points about the president.
The response he received was: 'He likes to build things, he likes power, he likes to be seen as bullying the bullies and he likes to be the best or have the best.'
The retired US Marine Corps general, became one of the most respected figures in the military who oversaw campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan under former President Obama and George W. Bush. Above he is pictured being sworn in as defense chief on January 27, 2017
The book claims Mattis tried to respect his commander-in-chief but struggled to understand him
Snodgrass writes he thought 'appealing to Trump's core beliefs could make briefings more palatable to the President' - but Mattis failed miserably.
During a summer 2017 meeting to describe America's military position around the world, the president's first big Pentagon briefing, he ranted about 'criminal trade agreements.'
Trump abruptly blurted: 'The USS Ford (the Navy's newest aircraft carrier) is completely out of control with cost overruns!'
Mattis tried to steer the conversation back to America's international partners and when Iran came up Trump said that a US warship in the region should open fire.
'If surrounded by Iran again, the captain ought to blow them out of the water!' Trump said, according to the book.
It was during this meeting that Trump brought up the idea for a 'Victory Day' parade, similar to the one he had seen during his recent visit to France on Bastille Day.
Snodgrass claims Mattis thought it would 'harken back to Soviet Union-like displays of authoritarian power.'
He also believed it was a waste of money - the projected cost was $50million - but nonetheless he told Trump he would look into it.
Trump continued to push for the matter and each time Mattis would try and placate him.
But in private, he admitted he would rather 'swallow acid' than let it happen.
Trump eventually held a military parade called a 'Salute to America' on Independence Day 2019, months after Mattis left the White House.
During a meeting, Trump proposed an idea for a 'Victory Day' parade (pictured) on July 4th, inspired by the one he saw on his trip to France in Bastille Day
Mattis allegedly objected to the idea, which had a projected cost of $50million. Trump's 'Salute to America' parade (pictured) eventually came into fruition, months after Mattis left the White House
Dozens of Air Force planes were brought to Washington DC at a cost of more than $5million for the event
Dozens of Air Force planes were brought to Washington at a cost of more than $5million.
According to the book, Mattis also struggled with Trump's governing-style by tweet, and learned of his plan to ban transgender people from the military when everyone else did.
At one point he described the chaos Trump was causing in government by forming a pistol with his fingers, putting it to his head and saying: 'No one move or the hostage gets it!'
In January last year at another crucial meeting about military policy, Trump erupted again.
As Mattis tried to talk about a Missile Defense Review, the president ranted about America being '$21 trillion in debt' and insisted foreign countries should pay to be protected by the US.
When Afghanistan came up, Mattis began discussing the Resolute Support Mission, the NATO-led operation to train Afghan forces to keep the Taliban at bay.
Trump reportedly scowled and responded: 'Seriously, who gives a s*** about Afghanistan? So far we're in for $7trillion fellas. $7trillion including Iraq. Worst decision ever and we're stuck with it. We could get 90 per cent of our commitments and countries and just bring it all home.'
Trump wanted to know specifically what America gained for each US soldier who died.
Trump and Mattis (pictured during an October 2018 briefing) butted heads over their opposing views on military intervention
In South Korea, Trump said it was a 'losing deal' and suggested it pay the $60billion-a-year cost of the American base there.
The only thing that piqued Trump's interest was nuclear submarines. He said: 'Why aren't we building more?'
It was a rare occasion when Mattis had the right answer for the president and said: 'We are.'
The book also describes how Trump blew up over Jeff Bezos, who the president disliked due to the Washington Post - which is owned by the billionaire - critical articles on him.
Trump suggested Amazon should be excluded from the Pentagon's $10billion cloud computing contract for a new military computing system, even though the tech company specializes in that area.
Mattis responded saying, 'we're not going to do that', and slow-rolled the contract to avoid bringing it to a head.
The former defense secretary also criticized the Russia-US Summit in Helsinki last July in which Trump met face-to-face with President Vladmir Putin.
The book says that Mattis thought the summit showed the White House 'wasn't thinking strategically' and only looking at things which provided 'immediate satisfaction.'
Snodgrass's tell-all book will be released on October 29, 2019
He described the move as 'like sex in the 1990s - all about instant gratification.'
Mattis also objected to Trump sending letters to NATO allies demanding that they pay more to remain part of the organization and said they had done 'real damage.'
Snodgrass recounts how Mattis knew the game was up when the other 'adults in the room' such as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and White House economic adviser Gary Cohn left or had been fired.
In March he told his close aides: 'The White House is not to be trusted right now. It's too undisciplined at the moment.'
Asked in a private meeting in June last year whether he thought Trump was making the country stronger, Mattis said: 'No, I don't. I do not think Trump's policies will make America stronger.'
The comments came after Trump's first summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and Trump's decision to cancel war games with South Korea.
As Mattis was forced out, the book claims Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo would all cut him off mid-sentence to shut him up.
Mattis had a similarly rocky time with Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton and during their first meeting he told him: 'I heard you were the devil incarnate and I wanted to meet you.'
Snodgrass's tell-all book will be released on October 29.
Mattis' assistant Candace Currier said in a statement that he 'hasn't read the book and doesn't intend to', but she did not comment on the accuracy of what he had written.
'Mr Snodgrass was a junior staffer who took notes in some meetings but played no role in decision making,' the statement read.
Currier said his 'choice to write a book reveals an absence of character', adding that 'surreptitiously taking notes without authorization for a self-promoting personal project is a clear violation of that trust.'
Mattis had refrained from commenting on the president until last week when he responded to Trump's remark that he was an 'overrated' general.
Mattis said that he was 'honored' to be given such a title because the president had said the same about Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep.
'So I guess I'm the Meryl Streep of generals, and frankly, that sounds pretty good to me. And, you do have to admit, between me and Meryl, at least we've had some victories.'
He also took another jab at the president for claiming his bone spurs prevented him from fighting in the Vietnam War.
'I earned my spurs at the battlefield, he earned his spurs from a letter from the doctor,' Mattis said, referring to how Trump evaded the military draft.