President-elect Donald Trump has indicated that he may give the top post of defence secretary to retired U.S. general James Mattis in the new cabinet he is forming.

After an hour-long meeting on Saturday, Trump told reporters that “James Mad Dog Mattis” is the “real deal.”

Mattis has 44 years of military service under his belt.  Rising through the ranks of the Marine Corps, the four-star general notably led a task force into southern Afganistan in 2001 and a Marine division during the Iraq invasion in 2003.

While praised for his leadership in the 2004 battle of Falluja in Iraq — one of the bloodiest of the war — he was condemned the following year for his statement “It’s fun to shoot some people” while talking to service members in San Diego.  “Actually it’s quite fun to fight them, you know. It’s a hell of a hoot,” he added during the panel discussion. “It’s fun to shoot some people. I’ll be right up there with you. I like brawling.  You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn’t wear a veil. You know, guys like that ain’t got no manhood left anyway. So it’s a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them.”

Mattis was responsible for all US forces in the Middle East following his promotion to run the US Central Command in 2010.

Vice president-elect Mike Pence spoke of Mattis in glowing terms to Fox News, saying that the general had had a “legendary career.”

As Mattis would have had to be out of uniform for at least seven years before assuming the position of defence secretary, he would need a special waiver from Congress.

Source: Independent