US protests: Donald Trump is dividing America, says Jim Mattis

Former US defence secretary Jim Mattis has denounced President Donald Trump for exacerbating the divisions in American society.

Donald Trump and Jim Mattis, right, in 2017. Picture: AFP

Former defence secretary Jim Mattis has denounced President Donald Trump for exacerbating the divisions in American society, saying he has fuelled the disorder plaguing US cities.

The former Pentagon chief, who had avoided voicing public criticism of his former boss, assailed the US President for belligerent language and for threatening to use military power to quell civil disturbances.

“Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people — does not even pretend to try,” General Mattis said in a statement. “Instead, he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership.”

General Mattis was also sharply critical of Defence Secretary Mark Esper’s handling of the crisis of unrest following the May 25 death of George Floyd.

Mr Esper was at the White House on Monday night when officials ordered protesters outside Washington’s Lafayette Park to be forcibly moved to allow Mr Trump and an entourage — including the defence secretary — to walk to nearby St John’s church, where they stood for photos.

General Mattis described the clearing of the area outside the White House as an “abuse of executive authority”.

Active-duty military forces haven’t been used in the past week in the streets of Washington, and Mr Esper said on Thursday that he does not favour a decision to invoke the Insurrection Act, allowing their deployment.

But General Mattis said Mr Esper’s comments contributed to the risk of militarising the government response to a civil crisis.

“Militarising our response, as we saw in Washington DC, sets up a conflict — a false conflict between the military and civilian society,” he wrote. “It erodes the moral ground that ensures a trusted bond between men and women in uniform and the society they are sworn to protect, and of which they themselves are a part.”

General Mattis resigned his post in December 2018 after Mr Trump abruptly decided to remove troops from Syria without consulting the Pentagon — a decision the President eventually partly reversed.

Since leaving office, General Mattis has avoided direct criticism of Mr Trump, saying his decision to leave the administration spoke for itself. But having gained a reputation for his blunt talk when a US Marine Corps general, he has been criticised for withholding his views on Mr Trump’s handling of crises.

One cause important to General Mattis is the need to maintain the political neutrality of the military in a deeply divided nation.

In his statement on Thursday, General Mattis made clear that he believed that neutral status was being jeopardised by Mr Trump’s actions to the point where the constitutional rights of Americans might be in danger.

“When I joined the military, some 50 years ago, I swore an oath to support and defend the constitution,” he wrote. “Never did I dream that troops taking that same oath would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the constitutional rights of their fellow citizens — much less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside.”

The Wall Street Journal