Trump’s New National Security Adviser Heads to Pentagon for Mattis Meeting

PENTAGON — 

U.S. President Donald Trump’s incoming National Security Adviser is headed to the Pentagon to meet with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.

The Pentagon says former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton is set to talk with Mattis later on Thursday.

It is not clear if this will be the first meeting between the two – both had been scheduled to be at the White House Wednesday for separate events.

On Tuesday, Mattis told Pentagon reporters he had never met Bolton but that he did not anticipate any difficulties in forging a working relationship.

“No reservations, no concerns at all,” Mattis said. “It's going to be a partnership. We're going to go forward.”

There have been questions about whether Mattis and Bolton would be able to work together effectively given Bolton’s reputation as a hawk on defense issues, while Mattis has repeatedly stressed a need to lead with diplomacy.

“I hope that there's some different worldviews,” Mattis told reporters earlier this week. “That's the normal thing you want, unless you want groupthink.”

Thursday’s meeting comes as reports emerge that the U.S. defense secretary could visit China in the next several months.

“Defense departments in both countries are currently coordinating on this," Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang said Thursday, when asked about the possibility.

Pentagon officials would not comment on the reports.

^{Information from Reuters was used in this report.}

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