Magazine - Washington Briefing

Pentagon chief Patrick Shanahan may be acting, but don’t count him out

By Jamie McIntyre

Published January 11, 2019 12:00am ET

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Pentagon chief Patrick Shanahan may be acting, but don’t count him out — Patrick Shanahan, acting U.S. secretary of defense, right, listens while U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2018. TrumpÂ insisted the U.S. needs some kind of physical barrier along the frontier with Mexico, just a few hours before a meeting with congressional leaders aimed at breaking a stalemate over border wall funding thatâs kept parts of the federal government shut down for 12 days. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg | (Al Drago/Bloomberg)

Don’t be surprised if Patrick Shanahan, the former deputy who replaced Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in an acting capacity, is still around at the end of President Trump’s first term.

The conventional wisdom around Washington is that Trump is having trouble finding anyone qualified to take the job, once Mattis resigned on principle after the president ordered all U.S. troops out of Syria against his advice.

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Army Border Department of Defense (Department of War) Jim Mattis Patrick Shanahan Pentagon Syria