While the White House lavished acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan with praise upon announcing his nomination to head the department on Thursday, President Trump reportedly had reservations about the pick, Politico reported.
Shanahan was invited to the White House at least twice in the past two weeks to speak with Trump. The acting secretary reportedly expected to be nominated during those meetings, but left both times without an offer.
Trump even admonished him in one of the meetings for, what he sees as, the Pentagon’s lack of progress on building his border wall. The Pentagon’s been tasked with funding construction projects on the southern border ever since Trump declared a national emergency to get his pet project built.
