mattis , who was among the defense chiefs reportedly surprised by trump ’s initial announcement of the ban on transgender people still serving . ” “ our country and our allies , ” mattis said . ” it ’s unclear where the video was taken , but mattis traveled to jordan , turkey and ukraine over the last week , meeting with top officials to discuss u.s. cooperation in the in a video posted on facebook , mattis says america needs to ‘ get the power of inspiration back ’ – a comment perceived to be a veiled criticism of donald trump the us defense secretary , james mattis , has told troops stationed abroad their duty is to “ hold the line ” amid partisan division at home . in a video that has recently surfaced on social media , mattis said the u.s. is facing “ problems . ” advertisement mattis said the u.s. has “ two powers ” — “ inspiration ” and “ intimidation . ” he also said he came out of retirement to “ get the power of inspiration back . defense secretary james mattis james norman mattisovernight defense : pentagon says trump canceled parade before cost briefing | erik prince renews push for contractors to run afghan war | more officials join outcry over security clearances erik prince hopeful bolton more open to contractors for afghan war pentagon : trump canceled military parade before being briefed on cost more gave a pep talk to u.s. troops stationed abroad during his trip to three countries last week . in comments contained in a video posted to a facebook page called “ us army wtf moments ” that appeared to have been taken on a smartphone during a visit to jordan , turkey and ukraine this week , most likely in jordan , mattis said : “ our country right now , it ’s got problems we do n’t have in the military . what trans soldier albert cashier can teach trump about patriotism read more “ you just hold the line until our country gets back to understanding and respecting each other and showing it .