10 things you need to know today: December 24, 2018

Trump ousts Mattis two months early, Mulvaney says it's "very possible" the shutdown will continue into the new year, and more

Trump has named Patrick Shanahan as acting secretary of Defense.
(Image credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

1. Trump removes Mattis 2 months early in response to rebuke

President Trump said Sunday that he would replace Defense Secretary James Mattis by Jan. 1, two months earlier than previously announced. After Mattis said last week he would be stepping down, Trump at first praised him for serving "with distinction." A Trump aide said, however, that the president became furious as he realized how forcefully Mattis had rebuked him in his letter of resignation for what Mattis described as Trump's rejection of U.S. allies and failure to confront authoritarian foes. Trump said via Twitter that Mattis deputy Patrick Shanahan would step in as acting defense secretary. Shanahan is a former Boeing executive who has told Trump he is right to complain about the cost of defense systems.

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.