Trump brings Defence Secretary nominee James 'Mad Dog' Mattis on stage during 'thank you' rally
Supporters of Donald Trump cheered and made barking sounds as James 'Mad Dog' Mattis appeared on stage during the President-elect's "thank you" tour.
Formally announcing his nomination of the retired Marine General to be his Defence Secretary, he also outlined military policy that would avoid interventions in foreign conflicts and instead focus heavily on defeating Islamic State.
"We will stop racing to topple foreign regimes that we know nothing about, that we shouldn't be involved with," Trump said. "Instead, our focus must be on defeating terrorism and destroying ISIS, and we will."
He added: "In order to succeed with our defence policy, we must find the right person to lead our defence department.
"That's why I am proud to formally announce today my intention to nominate General James 'Mad Dog' Mattis as the next Secretary of Defence for the United States of America."
He added: "The American people are fortunate that a man of his character and integrity will now be the civilian leader atop the Department of Defense, under his leadership."
Mattis briefly addressed the crowd in Fayetteville, North Carolina thanking Trump for the nomination.
He said: "I look forward to being the civilian leader so long as the Congress gives me the waiver and the Senate votes to consent."
Mattis will require a congressional waiver to accept the post since he has not been out of uniform for the required seven years.
"What a great guy, he's going to be incredible," said Trump. "He'll get that waiver, right? If he didn't get that waiver there'll be a lot of angry people."
The President-elect added that further announcements about his cabinet will be coming over the next few days.
"I believe we're in the process of putting together one of the all-time great cabinets that has ever been assembled through our nation's history," he said.
"We have some great, great people that are going to be named over the next couple of days."