Trump Faces Backlash from Own Appointees

Associated Press: “At least three top national security officials — Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly and Rex Tillerson, who is awaiting confirmation to lead the State Department — have told associates they were not aware of details of directive until around the time Trump signed it. Leading intelligence officials were also left largely in the dark.”

“The blowback underscored Trump’s tenuous relationship with his own national security advisers, many of whom he met for the first time during the transition… Mattis, who stood next to Trump during Friday’s signing ceremony, is said to be particularly incensed… Tillerson has told the president’s political advisers that he was baffled over not being consulted on the substance of the order.”