General Jim Mattis quits as Secretary of Defense.

President Trump initiates DefCon 1 on a government shutdown,

and the stock market tumbles.

Again, it's the year-end episode of the Ben Shapiro Show.

This is the final live episode this year.

I know, brush away those tears. It's okay.

It'll be all right. We'll get through this together,

and then we'll be back, energized and refreshed in the new year. I know I will. I'm going to take a vacation next week. I hope that you're also having a vacation next week. But first, we want to make sure that you are all up to date with the latest news, which is crazy. I have to say, the season finale of Trump, it's really ending on a cliffhanger. As we go into the new year, I mean, there are a lot of

cliffhangers that have yet to be resolved really a strong tease for the next season of Trump, the show. We'll get to all that in just one second. First, let's talk about how you send packages this holiday season, this Christmas season, because it is indeed Christmas. You know, Hanukkah ended a while those. You're not sending those packages. If you are, you're late. But if you're sending Christmas

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not only saves you time, it saves you money, because Stamps.com helps you print the right

amount of postage every single time. We use Stamps.com here at the Daily Wire offices. I use Stamps.com in my own personal life for Hanukkah presents and also for nice things for people around the Christmas time. I use stamps because it is so good for all of the aforementioned reason. And right now, you two can enjoy the Stamps.com service with the special offer that includes a four-week trial plus postage and a digital scale without long-term commitments. Go to Stamps.com. Click on that microphone at the top of the homepage. Type in promo code Shapiro. That is Stamps.com. And use that promo code Shapiro for the special deal, four-week trial plus postage and the digital scale without long-term commitments stamps.com promo code Shapiro. All right. So, last

episode of the year, there's a lot going on, a lot going on. So yesterday, the Secretary of Defense,

Jim Mattis, General Jim Mattis, who is one of the most beloved members of the Trump administration by the general public and by the Republican base at large.

He decided that he was out. He issued his resignation letter. He will be leaving as early as

February. His resignation letter is quite brutal, but to understand what he's talking about,

you first have to understand what it was that triggered the resignation. So a little bit of

background info. Jim Mattis is very

close to General John Kelly, who is the chief of staff inside the White House. When John Kelly left,

that probably set the clock ticking on when Mattis was going to leave. But as recently as a

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