Trump Tweets Ire Over Mattis, Gen. John Kelly

Amid attacks from the left, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and even some former administration officials, President Donald Trump spent much of his Thursday tweeting his ire at a variety of targets.

Trump first tweeted a rebuke of ex-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis' call to vote against the president in November.

Mattis, secretary of defense under Trump, told The Atlantic in a Wednesday article that he "watched this week's unfolding events, angry and appalled," in reference to Trump's response to ongoing riots over the killing of George Floyd. Mattis sided with protesters and said the president is trying to divide Americans.

In a stinging rebuke, Trump tweeted:

"I thought this letter from respected retired Marine and Super Star lawyer, John Dowd, would be of interest to the American People. Read it!"

Dowd's letter to Mattis included a takedown of the wide-ranging "resistance movement" working to take down President Trump.

"I slept on your letter and woke up appalled and upset," Dowd, a fellow Marine veteran, wrote to Mattis, whom Trump has rebuked as a Democrat. "Never dreamed you would let a bunch of hack politicians use your good name and reputation-earned with the blood and guys of young Marines."

Among the highlights of Dowd's takedown of a takedown, he said Mattis should "bone up on your homework and stop listening to Uncle Leon":

"The peaceful protesters near Lafayette park were not peaceful and are not real. They are terrorists using idle hate filled students to burn and destroy. They were abusing and disrespecting the police when the police were preparing the area for the 1900 curfew. Jim this is the new nihilism."

"No one divided this country more than Obama. He abandon our black brothers and sisters. He gave guns to the cartels. He apologized for our precious sacrifice and generosity overseas. You remember, he fired you."

"I understand you had to stick to the assigned narrative which did not include three years of corrupt investigations and evidence to destroy this president, his office, and his lawful free election. Nancy has no tolerance for dissent in the ranks – including those with stars."

Dowd also ripped Mattis for not taking out Iranian terrorist group leader Qasem Soleimani, saying Mattis' "anger is borne out of embarrassment of your own failure as the leader of Central Command."

Trump then picked up another point in his feud with Mattis, which intensified over former White House chief of staff John Kelly's contention Trump did not ask for Mattis' resignation. (Mattis said he was leaving in late 2018; Kelly was chief of staff until Jan. 2, 2019.)

Trump reiterated his contention he did ax Mattis; he just did not bother to tell his chief of staff, who was not in Trump's "inner circle" and had "slinked away into obscurity" before his own departure after what some Trump supporters characterized as efforts to subvert the president.

Trump tweeted:

"John Kelly didn't know I was going to fire James Mattis, nor did he have any knowledge of my asking for a letter of resignation. Why would I tell him, he was not..."

Continuing via tweet:

"...in my inner-circle, was totally exhausted by the job, and in the end just slinked away into obscurity. They all want to come back for a piece of the limelight!

In a followup, Trump tweeted:

"The problem with asking for someone to give you a letter of resignation, which you do as a courtesy to help them save face, is that it is then harder to say you fired them. I did fire James Mattis. He was no good for Obama, who fired him also, and was no good for me!"

On another front, Trump took on Republican Sen. Murkowski of Alaska. Earlier in the day, she had said she is "struggling" to decide whether to vote for Trump in November while applauding Mattis' criticism of the commander in chief.

"I have struggled with it for a long time I think you know that," she said, according to CNN, noting she "didn't support the president in the initial election."

Trump vowed to support her challenger, "any candidate . . . good or bad, I don't care":

"Few people know where they'll be in two years from now, but I do, in the Great State of Alaska (which I love) campaigning against Senator Lisa Murkowski. She voted against HealthCare, Justice Kavanaugh, and much else..."

He added: