President-elect Donald Trump and his hand-picked Defense Secretary James Mattis are sharply divided on Russian President Vladimir Putin and the threat posed by his country, The Washington Times reports.
Trump has praised Putin as a "strong leader," the Times noted. However, Mattis, a retired Marine Corps general, said in May 2015 that among world threats "in the near term, I think the most dangerous might be Russia," according to the Times.
"I would just tell you that as you look at the Russia situation, I think it is much more severe and much more serious than we have acknowledged," The Times reports the defense secretary-designate told a gathering at The Heritage Foundation in Washington.
"There is the potential, I believe, that Putin has unleashed forces that he will be personally unable to control," the former four-star general said.
And the newspaper said he raised the possibility Putin is "delusional."
Meanwhile, the Times reports, Trump has lavished praise on the Russian leader.
"If (Putin) says great things about me, I'm going to say great things about him. I've already said he is really very much of a leader," Trump said.
CBS News reports Trump and Mattis differ on at least one other issue. The network news says Mattis opposes waterboarding, a torture technique Trump promised to legalize in the fight against ISIS.
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