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He also knocked Trump for his many hours of executive time:

“It’s been a year since I’ve left the administration, the recovery process is going well,\" he joked. \"The counselor says I’ll graduate soon. A year according to White House time is about 9,000 hours of executive time or 1,800 holes of golf.\"

\"PHOTO:
Bloomberg via Getty Images, FILE
PHOTO: President Donald Trump pauses while speaking as James Mattis, Secretary of Defense, listens during a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, June 21, 2018.
>

Mattis, who has been critical of many of Trump's foreign policy decisions since leaving office, also got serious for a moment Thursday, mentioning the U.S.'s Kurdish allies in Syria. He called for the U.S. to again back the population, which has been attacked by Turkey.

\"Let us restore trust in one another,\" Mattis said.

The president was onstage in Dallas at the same time as Mattis' keynote, delivering a campaign speech to a packed crowd at American Airlines Center.

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