Defense Secretary James Mattis may be the "last man standing" after President Donald Trump's purging of his national security staff in the last month, but some Washington observers question for how long.
"Mattis may indeed be the last man standing," Julianne Smith, a former senior Pentagon official, told The New Yorker on Friday, "but for how long?"
A retired Marine Corps general, Mattis, 67, took office with Trump on Inauguration Day last year — and he has survived many upheavals in the White House, particularly in Trump's national security operation in the last month.
That "bloodletting" began on March 13, when President Trump fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson — nominating CIA Director Mike Pompeo as his replacement.
Nine days later, Trump dismissed National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster and then named former United Nations Ambassador John Bolton to the post.
In addition, Bolton took over last week — beginning a purge that included Homeland Security Adviser Thomas Bossert, two deputy national security advisers, the spokesman for the National Security Council, and "assorted other aides," the New Yorker reports.
Further, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and current U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley "have been ensnared in the infighting, drawing fire from the president himself," according to the report.
Washington insiders also noted the disconnect between Trump and Mattis last week on the Syrian airstrikes in response to the chemical-weapons attack by President Bashar al-Assad.
President Trump told the nation from the White House that "we are prepared to sustain this response until the Syrian regime stops its use of prohibited chemical agents."
Mattis, however, described the offensive as a "heavy" one-time strike — telling reporters later that "this is a one-time shot."
Trump also overruled Mattis on seeking congressional approval to strike Syria, according to news reports.
"Either you conclude his influence is very high because of where Syria turned out," one national security expert told the New Yorker, "or it's the beginning of the end."
Now, observers are focusing on a relationship between Mattis and Pompeo should the CIA chief be confirmed as the nation's top diplomat.
"Look, Mattis and Pompeo will diverge more than Mattis and Tillerson did in terms of policy," one Trump adviser told the New Yorker. "It will be a healthy and professional divergence.
"I don't think it will be poisonous or backstabbing."