--- description: With the firing of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Tuesday, Defense Secretary James Mattis lost his closest ally in the Administration. title: Trump's Defense Secretary Loses an Ally With Tillerson Firing image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde9ca2d016b21f55/6988d2ce8fd2eeebb0357a86/gettyimages-699410926.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Military](/tag/military/) ## Military Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Trump's Defense Secretary Loses an Ally With Tillerson Firing  by [W.J. Hennigan](/author/w-j-hennigan/)  ## W.J. Hennigan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 13, 2018 4:28 PM CUT  Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Washington, DC, on June 21, 2017. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Washington, DC, on June 21, 2017.Paul J. Richards—AFP/Getty Images  by [W.J. Hennigan](/author/w-j-hennigan/)  ## W.J. Hennigan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 13, 2018 4:28 PM CUT With the [firing of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson](http://time.com/5197365/rex-tillerson-fired-timeline/ "undefined") Tuesday, Defense Secretary [James Mattis](http://time.com/4588216/donald-trump-james-mattis-defense-secretary/ "undefined") lost his closest ally in the tumultuous Trump Administration. A retired four-star Marine Corps general, Mattis consulted with Tillerson on a daily basis to resolve foreign policy dilemmas spanning from strife on the Korean Peninsula to the formulation of a new Afghanistan strategy. When Mattis [unveiled the U.S. National Defense Strategy](http://time.com/5109551/donald-trump-military-defense-strategy/ "undefined") earlier this year, he stressed this importance of working with Tillerson to tackle issues and dealing with the White House. “It starts with me having breakfast every week with Secretary of State Tillerson,” Mattis said during the [Jan. 19 speech](https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/1420042/remarks-by-secretary-mattis-on-the-national-defense-strategy/ "undefined"). “We talk two, three times a day, sometimes. We settle all of our issues between he and I, and then we walk together into the White House meetings. That way, State and Defense are together.” Mattis, who’s currently in Afghanistan on travel, has consistently deferred to State and Tillerson on anything to do with North Korea. He did that again this weekend when he told reporters traveling with him that he plans to not discuss North Korea’s willingness for diplomatic talks and possibly abandon their nuclear program. “This is a diplomatically led effort,” Mattis said. “So I do not want to talk about Korea at all. I’ll leave it to those who are leading the effort, the State Department and the NSC.” Trump has named [former CIA chief Mike Pompeo](http://time.com/4576939/mike-pompeo-cia-donald-trump-what-to-know/ "undefined") as Tillerson’s replacement. Mattis has worked closely with Pompeo in the administration, but has not yet developed as close as a bond. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5197834/trumps-defense-secretary-loses-an-ally-with-tillerson-firing/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5197834/trumps-defense-secretary-loses-an-ally-with-tillerson-firing/"},"headline":"Trump's Defense Secretary Loses an Ally With Tillerson Firing","datePublished":"2018-03-13T16:28:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T19:38:17.245Z","description":"\"We talk two, three times a day, sometimes\"","url":"https://time.com/5197834/trumps-defense-secretary-loses-an-ally-with-tillerson-firing/","keywords":["Military","Foreign Policy","White House","National Security","Defense","Donald Trump","Mike Pompeo","Rex Tillerson"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde9ca2d016b21f55/6988d2ce8fd2eeebb0357a86/gettyimages-699410926.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"W.J. 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