Should POTUS apologize to Marine Corps Mad Dog?

Trump claims he coined the nickname ‘Mad Dog’ Mattis

Military Times
By: Leo Shane III
March 3, 2019

But news reports referred to Mattis by the moniker — which he has publicly said he does not like — as far back as 2004, when he was commanding general of the 1st Marine Division.

President Donald Trump hugs the American flag as he arrives to speak at Conservative Political Action Conference in Oxon Hill, Md., on March 2, 2019. During his speech, Trump claimed to have come up with former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis' nickname of "Mad Dog." (Jose Luis Magana/AP)

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump incorrectly claimed to have coined former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis’ well-known “Mad Dog” nickname because “Chaos” was not a good enough one for the four-star Marine Corps general.

The comments came during a lengthy speech on Saturday before the annual Conservative Political Action Conference meeting. Trump was speaking on the military’s involvement in the Middle East when he said Defense Department generals “are perfect people” and he wanted to make more of them famous.

“Just like I did with Mattis,” he said. “I said we’re going to give you a new nickname, because ‘Chaos’ is not a good nickname. So we changed it to ‘Mad Dog.’

"But Mad Dog wasn’t working too well (as secretary)."

Trump did give Mattis an original nickname last fall, labeling him as “moderate dog” as tensions between the two men grew.read more here