So here's the current official spin, for the moment and for the record:

A low-profile Mattis makes no mention of Trump as he tours Europe

Even as senior Pentagon officials insist they have never been more united, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis often seems to be having a different conversation with allies than President Trump.

By Greg Jaffe & Missy Ryan @ WashingtonPost.com, July 15

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was in Norway over the weekend, a short hop from the site of President Trump’s Monday summit with Russian President Vladi­mir Putin in Helsinki. But often it seemed as though Mattis was inhabiting a distant world. [.....]

Mattis traveled with Trump to the NATO summit in Brussels but remained offstage when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser John Bolton joined Trump during the president’s impromptu news conference.

When he did surface, Mattis mentioned the president (of Croatia). “It was a very good discussion,” he said of their meeting Friday at the U.S.-Adriatic Charter summit in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. “I’ll just leave it at that.”

He twice quoted Vice President Pence on the importance of America’s commitment to its Adriatic allies. Trump’s name did not come up.

Even as senior Pentagon officials insist they have never been more united, Mattis often seems to be having a different conversation with allies than Trump. His defense strategy, published in December, stresses the importance of alliances, especially in Europe, and orders the U.S. military to ramp up its capabilities to counter the threat posed by Russia.

“Everyone can understand there’s very little upside for him to be seen in public, because even if he says reassuring things he’s going to be at variance with the president,” said Derek Chollet, a former senior Pentagon official now at the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

Dana White, chief Pentagon spokeswoman, said Mattis had long said that Europeans had to be as committed to the continent’s defense as Americans were. “For more than a year, the secretary has clearly communicated the President’s guidance and today every NATO member is spending more on defense,” she said [....]