"'He said, "I've never found it to be useful,"' Mr. Trump said, describing the general's view of torturing terrorism suspects. He added that Mr. Mattis found more value in building trust and rewarding cooperation with terror suspects: '"Give me a pack of cigarettes and a couple of beers and I'll do better."'

"'I was very impressed by that answer.'

"Torture, he said, is 'not going to make the kind of a difference that a lot of people are thinking.'"