At a press conference Friday, President Trump announced that he’ll give Secretary of Defense James Mattis the authority to “override” him on whether or not to use “enhanced interrogation techniques” like torture or waterboarding.
Trump had an interesting choice of words when he made the announcement. He said that Mattis and he had a different opinion on torture. It wasn’t that Mattis changed Trump’s mind — it’s that Trump still disagrees but will defer to Mattis anyway.
It will be interesting to see if Trump takes a similar approach to disagreements with his other Cabinet members. During their confirmation hearings, several of Trump’s nominees broke from Trump’s campaign promises.
For example, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., Trump’s pick for attorney general, said he opposed a Muslim immigration ban. Trump is set to sign an executive order that isn’t a full ban on Muslim immigration, but it does block refugees coming from several countries where Islam is the majority religion.
On trade, Trump’s pick for secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, said he doesn’t oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership, but Trump has already pulled the United States out of it.
Mattis also departed from Trump on President Obama’s Iran deal. Trump once said he would “rip up the deal on day one” of his administration (he hasn’t yet). Mattis called it “imperfect” but added, “When America gives her word, we have to live up to it and work with our allies.”
It’s interesting that, at least on torture, Trump feels his Cabinet has authority that he doesn’t. Will Trump’s deferral of authority extend to other issues, or beyond Mattis? We’ll see.
Jason Russell is the contributors editor for the Washington Examiner.
