Patrick Shanahan
The outgoing US Defense Secretary James Mattis will leave his post by January 1, 2019 and his deputy Patrick Shanahan will replace him as acting defense chief, President Donald Trump tweeted on December 23.
I am pleased to announce that our very talented Deputy Secretary of Defense, Patrick Shanahan, will assume the title of Acting Secretary of Defense starting January 1, 2019. Patrick has a long list of accomplishments while serving as Deputy, & previously Boeing. He will be great!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2018
Patrick Shanahan is a US businessman. He’s deeply linked to the Boeing Copmany and got his first post as a government official in 2017.
Earlier Mattis and US special envoy for the global coalition to defeat ISIS Brett McGurk submited resignation letters to the Trump administration. Most of observers link this situation with the decision of President Trump to pull out troops from Syria.
