President Trump will nominate Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan to permanently lead the Defense Department, the White House announced in a statement Thursday.
The decision was “based upon his outstanding service to the country and his demonstrated ability to lead,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in the statement.
Shanahan — a Trump loyalist who has ties to Boeing — was tapped to lead the department on an interim basis after former Secretary Jim Mattis resigned in December.
President Trump intends to nominate Patrick M. Shanahan as Secretary of Defense. pic.twitter.com/RaOXb09qMr
— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) May 9, 2019
