Ex-Mattis aide gives scathing rebuke of Trump: 'More fixated on pinning medals on his own chest' than protecting US

Guy Snodgrass, the former chief speechwriter for former Defense Secretary James Mattis, painted a scathing portrait of President Donald Trump during a Wednesday interview with CNN's Brianna Keilar.

During the interview, Snodgrass discussed his new book -- titled "Holding the Line: Inside Trump's Pentagon with Secretary Mattis" -- and described how difficult it was to actually get Trump to focus on crucial national security issues during briefings.

"When you're in that type of scenario, you want a president to walk into that room and be laser focused on national security, on what's best for the american public and of course strengthening our alliances and partnerships around the world," Snodgrass explained. "For him to walk in with a scowl on his face, automatically dismissing anything that Secretary Mattis or Tillerson was going to share with him about America's place in this world, and the importance of our military and what we do abroad, was very disruptive."

The former Mattis aide then broke down the kinds of things that actually did hold the president's attention.

"When you realize President Trump is more fixated on undermining his predecessor and pinning medals on his own chest, it's one of those things where, again, that's not where his focus should be," he explained.

Watch the video below.