Trump said today that despite his feeling that torture works, he’s going to defer judgement on that to his Secretary of Defense, General Mattis, who openly disagrees:
Pres. Trump: Defense Sec. Mattis "does not necessarily believe in torture…I don't necessarily agree" but Mattis' decision will override. pic.twitter.com/XPJtdVgw1f
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) January 27, 2017
Wow. That’s really a surprising and quite honest thing to hear from a president.
Trump is basically saying that Mattis is the bigger man in the room on this stuff, so he’s going to completely defer to his judgement even though they disagree.
I’m sure some will criticize Trump on this, but honestly, I find it refreshing. After all, we know that Trump isn’t an expert on these things, as most presidents aren’t. It gives me confidence in his judgement that he’s willing admit that he’s letting the experts in the room handle it.