File photo: U.S. President Donald Trump walks in with U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis
Photograph: POOL
U.S. President Donald Trump said he is unsure whether Defense Secretary James Mattis is planning to step down from his post, but told CBS' "60 Minutes" in a pre-taped interview that the retired general might and that he regards Mattis as "sort of a Democrat."
"It could be that he is" planning to depart, Trump said, according to an excerpt of a transcript released on Sunday before the show airs. "I think he's sort of a Democrat, if you want to know the truth. But General Mattis is a good guy. We get along very well. He may leave." (Reporting By Arshad Mohammed and Sarah N. Lynch, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)