washington defense secretary jim mattis openly differ commander chief north korea wednesday late example once-rare public display disagreement top u.s. aid become frequent president donald trump never diplomatic solutions mattis tell reporters hours trump say tweet talk answer standoff north korea nuclear weapons missile program public contradiction trump position come day pentagon chief retire four-star marine general appear delay implementation trump decision ban transgender people enlist military mattis also among senior aid include secretary state rex tillerson white house economic adviser gary cohn implicitly criticize republican president response violence rally organize white nationalists charlottesville virginia early month presidents often disagree senior advisers policies matter differences usually confine internal deliberations become public leak much late memoirs historians former government officials say see modern president pattern many high officials say things like say michael beschloss presidential historian ask television interview sunday whether trump initial comment blame many side violence charlottesville instead focus neo-nazis white nationalists raise question value tillerson say simply president speak himself white house spokeswoman sarah sanders seek play significance tillerson comment think anyone try distance think moments maybe people disagree think healthy thing able productive conversation sanders tell reporters air force one tuesday beschloss say differences air publicly notable people protect reputations real time something usually see high-level officials around president say mattis repeatedly make clear diplomacy back credible military option way prevent north korea crisis escalate potentially devastate conflict ask mattis comment wednesday chief pentagon spokesperson dana white say secretary mattis provide president best advice president make ultimate decisions leon panetta serve defense secretary cia director former democratic president barack obama say air differences inside trump administration root president habit share opinions twitter post think problem advisers deal president tweet thoughts country say panetta say policy differences obama kind individual sit national security team try work issue policy process confine white house early month video post social media show mattis tell u.s. troop unite state problems military hold line country get back understand respect show say impromptu speech believe make aug. 21 visit jordan come violence charlottesville woman kill many people injure cohn clearly distance trump comment violence officials say consider resign citizens stand equality freedom never equate white supremacists neo-nazis kkk ku klux klan say interview financial time aug. 25. jennifer lawless professor government american university say significant several trump advisers distance trump comment charlottesville make difficult retaliate individual advisers say go every single member cabinet make look like maybe make wrong choices top advisers display disagreement trump