Trump '100 per cent' with me: US defence chief Mattis

US protection secretary Jim Mattis stated President Donald Trump has confident him of his complete beef up, sooner or later after Trump seemed to forged doubt over the Pentagon chief's fate.

Speaking to newshounds as he flew from Washington to Ho Chi Minh City originally of a week-long Asia go back and forth, Mattis stated he had spoken at once to Trump by way of phone overdue Monday morning, Washington time.

"He said, 'I'm 100 percent with you'," Mattis stated.

His commentary comes after US broadcaster CBS on Sunday aired an interview with Trump, in which he suggested Mattis is also headed out the Pentagon door.

"It could be that he is. I think he's sort of a Democrat, if you want to know the truth," Trump stated.

"But General Mattis is a good guy. We get along very well. He may leave. I mean, at some point, everybody leaves."

Earlier on within the 20-hour flight to Vietnam - sooner than he'd spoken to Trump - Mattis was asked what he'd made of Trump's comments.

"Nothing at all," Mattis stated.

"I'm on his team. We have never talked about me leaving. And as you can see right here, we are on our way, we just continue doing our job... no problem."

He added that he had by no means registered with any political celebration, and that those within the military are "proudly apolitical".

Mattis's fate has been the topic of intense speculation for months.

It reached fever pitch in September, when veteran journalist Bob Woodward published a e-book giving an within glimpse right into a chaotic White House and stated Mattis had puzzled Trump's judgment, likening his working out to that of a 10- or 11-year-old child.

Mattis, a buttoned-up former Marine Corps general, is loathe to talk about politics or his courting with Trump, and the president is widely reported to bristle at detrimental comparisons to Mattis, who has large bipartisan beef up.

The Woodward e-book main points quite a few instances Mattis or Trump officers are stated to have slow-walked orders from the president, such as within the aftermath of Trump's tweets final year that stated all transgender staff would be banned from the army.

Trump is having a look to reshape his cabinet after the mid-term elections, which will decide whether the Democrats can regain some extent of energy after a total and humiliating defeat in 2016.

The president has already do away with lots of his unique top-level picks, including former secretary of state Rex Tillerson and Lieutenant General HR McMaster, who have been national safety advisor.

Last week, his ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, introduced her resignation, efficient on the finish of the year.

She gave no reason for the wonder move, however observers have famous that the ascension of John Bolton as national safety adviser and Mike Pompeo as secretary of state have shifted the ability dynamics on Trump's national safety team.

The many ways the scholarly Mattis's worldview contrasts with that of his boss is an evergreen topic of stories in Washington, a incontrovertible fact that rankles the Pentagon chief, who says he despises being portrayed as an "adult" in comparison to Trump.