Trump to nominate Gen. Mattis to lead Pentagon
CINCINNATI, Ohio - President-Elect Donald Trump says he will nominate retired Gen. James Mattis as defense secretary.
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President-elect Donald Trump says he will nominate retired Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis to lead the Defense Department.
Trump made the announcement during a post-election victory rally Thursday in Cincinnati.
Mattis retired in 2013 after serving as the commander of the U.S. Central Command.
In a tweet Sunday, Trump referred to Mattis by his nickname "Mad Dog" and described him as "A true General's General!"
Trump is celebrating two victories on Thursday. The first was the news he brokered a deal to keep a Carrier plant in Indiana as he tours the plant which will remain open. The second is far more clear-cut: his own on Election Day.
Trump, who has long spoken of feeding off the energy of his raucous crowds, first floated the idea of a victory tour just days after winning the election but has instead prioritized filling some Cabinet positions.
The rally in Cincinnati, which Pence also will attend, will take place in the same downtown sports arena where Trump appeared in late October and drew about 15,000 people in what was one of his loudest — and most hostile to the media — crowds of the campaign. Trump, who convincingly won Ohio, is also expected to hold rallies in battleground states including Pennsylvania, Florida, North Carolina and Michigan in the coming weeks, though details have yet to be announced.