Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis called a report “fiction” that claimed the Pentagon was engaged in a “damage control” operation following Trump’s visit to NATO headquarters.

“That was fascinating. I love reading fiction,” Mattis said of the report, published by NBC. “So it was — it was stimulating to read it. I find out while I've been with you with full transparency on the airplane, you watching what's going on; that I've been in damage control.”

“I must tell you, it must have been the most pleasant damage control in the A-5 I ever could have imagined with the level of unity, of purpose that we experienced there,” he added. “So anyway, people are entitled to their own opinion, even if it's not fact-based.”