U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said on Thursday night he would nominate retired Marine Corps General James Mattis, known as "Mad Dog" and renowned for his tough talk and battlefield experience in Iraq and Afghanistan, to lead the Pentagon. The declaration was said at a rally in Cincinnati, according to Reuters.

“We are going to appoint Mad Dog Mattis as our secretary of defense,” Trump told and joked that the media and audience should keep the news to themselves. “We are going to be announcing him Monday of next week,” Trump said. “Keep it inside the room.”

Mattis, who retired as chief of U.S. Central Command in 2013, has often said that Washington lacks an overall strategy in the Middle East, opting to confront “political Islam”.

Mattis criticized Barack Obama lack of military support for allies, declared that America suffers from "strategic atrophy" and called Russia's aggression against Ukraine in the Crimea and Donbas "more acute, more serious than is considered by Washington and EU".

He also stressed that the objective of Russian President Vladimir Putin is to divide NATO.

6 unforgettable quotes by James Mattis

"A country that armed Stalin to defeat Hitler can certainly work alongside enemies of Al Qaeda to defeat Al Qaeda."

"You are part of the world's most feared and trusted force. Engage your brain before you engage your weapon."

"If in order to kill the enemy you have to kill an innocent, don't take the shot. Don't create more enemies than you take out by some immoral act."

"I come in peace. I didn't bring artillery. But I'm pleading with you, with tears in my eyes: If you f--- with me, I'll kill you all."

"Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet."

"Find the enemy that wants to end this experiment (in American democracy) and kill every one of them until they're so sick of the killing that they leave us and our freedoms intact."

Source: Washington Post, Business Insider