--- title: Read Defense Secretary Jim Mattis' Farewell Message description: Jim Mattis, the outgoing Secretary of Defense, told staff to “keep the faith in our country” in a farewell message sent on Monday. canonical: https://time.com/5490806/read-jim-mattis-farewell-message/ author: Billy Perrigo article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-12-31T15:18:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T22:22:44.311Z article:section: Politics og:title: Read Defense Secretary Jim Mattis' Farewell Message og:description: "When the times are most difficult ... Keep the faith in our country" og:url: https://time.com/5490806/read-jim-mattis-farewell-message/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc70c22df683fec94/6989426a86f68eec7c6eb113/GettyImages-1024818640.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: US-DEFENSE-PRESS CONFERENCE og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read Defense Secretary Jim Mattis' Farewell Message twitter:description: "When the times are most difficult ... Keep the faith in our country" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc70c22df683fec94/6989426a86f68eec7c6eb113/GettyImages-1024818640.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Read Defense Secretary Jim Mattis' Farewell Message  by [Billy Perrigo](https://time.com/author/billy-perrigo/)  ## Billy Perrigo Correspondent Dec 31, 2018 3:18 PM UTC  AUG. 28: U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis holds a press conference at the Pentagon AUG. 28: U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis holds a press conference at the PentagonNICHOLAS KAMM—AFP/Getty Images  by [Billy Perrigo](https://time.com/author/billy-perrigo/)  ## Billy Perrigo Correspondent Dec 31, 2018 3:18 PM UTC Retired Gen. Jim Mattis, the outgoing [Secretary of Defense](http://time.com/5486300/james-mattis-disagree-donald-trump/), told staff at the Department of Defense to “keep the faith in our country” in a farewell message sent on Monday. The short letter came on Mattis’ last day as Secretary of Defense, after he was forced out of the post following a [clash](http://time.com/5486552/james-mattis-resignation-pentagon/) with President Donald Trump over the decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria. The full letter reads: --- > “” --- One day after President Trump unexpectedly announced U.S. troops would be withdrawn from Syria, Mattis announced he would be resigning. His resignation letter was seen as [a rebuke of Trump’s military policy](http://time.com/5486552/james-mattis-resignation-pentagon/), including his rhetorical attacks on NATO and other longtime U.S. allies. It ended with, “you have a right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours.” Mattis was originally meant to leave his post at the end of February, in an effort to ensure a smooth handoff of control of the Pentagon. However, on Dec. 23, [Trump abruptly moved Mattis’ resignation date](http://time.com/5487705/trump-pushes-mattis-out/) forward to Jan. 1, 2019. Mattis is scheduled to transfer responsibility to his deputy, Patrick Shanahan, on Monday evening. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5490806/read-jim-mattis-farewell-message/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5490806/read-jim-mattis-farewell-message/"},"headline":"Read Defense Secretary Jim Mattis' Farewell Message","datePublished":"2018-12-31T15:18:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T22:22:44.311Z","description":"Jim Mattis, the outgoing Secretary of Defense, told staff to “keep the faith in our country” in a farewell message sent on Monday.","url":"https://time.com/5490806/read-jim-mattis-farewell-message/","keywords":["Military","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc70c22df683fec94/6989426a86f68eec7c6eb113/GettyImages-1024818640.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Billy Perrigo","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/billy-perrigo/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc70c22df683fec94/6989426a86f68eec7c6eb113/GettyImages-1024818640.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-DEFENSE-PRESS CONFERENCE","caption":"US-DEFENSE-PRESS CONFERENCE","creditText":"NICHOLAS KAMM—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/military/","name":"Military"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5490806/read-jim-mattis-farewell-message/","name":"Read Defense Secretary Jim Mattis' Farewell Message"}}]}] ```