President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary James Mattis, who resigned on Thursday, still have a good relationship, even though they disagreed on a number of policy points, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Friday.
"At the end of the day, the American people elected one person to be the commander in chief an to make decisions," Sanders told Fox News' "Fox and Friends."
"The president listens to all of his national security team, which is a big group. He takes their advice. And at the end of the day, he makes the decision. That's what he was elected to do."
She added that was the "right thing and the honorable thing" for Mattis to step aside, if he no longer feels he is the right person to be defense secretary.
"He has also served the president and this country," said Sanders. "He served in this administration for two years and he served the country in the military for over four decades."
The administration has the "highest amount of respect" for Mattis and looks forward to working with him until his resignation takes effect in two months.
"He is not just walking out the door," said Sanders. "This will be an orderly process and will continue to be a good relationship over the next couple of months."
Sanders said she thinks there are several people on a list to replace Mattis, but meanwhile, the Department of Defense has a strong deputy director who can help hold the seat while a new secretary is nominated and confirmed.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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