WASHINGTON – Former defense Secretary Jim Mattis had a witty response to reports that President Donald trump called him “the most overrated General in the world” during a heated meeting with congressional Democrats on Wednesday.

“I stand before you, as noted here, in fact, having achieved greatness,” Mattis begins, speaking at the al Smith Memorial Foundation dinner on Thursday, eliciting laughter. “I mean, I’m not just an overrated General, I’m the greatest, most overrated General in the world.”

“A great honor for me to assume that Donald trump, because he also said that Meryl Streep is overrated as an actress. So I think I’m Meryl Streep generals, and honestly, that sounds really good to me, ” he continues.

“You have to admit that between me and Meryl at least we had some wins,” Mattis joked.  

The President called Streep “one of Hollywood’s most overrated Actresses” after she criticized him during an appearance at the Golden globes shortly after the 2016 election.

Streep is the most nominated actor in Academy award history. 

He jokingly thanked minority leader Sen. Chuck Schumer for raising his name at a “pretty contentious meeting in Washington” between the White house and congressional Democrats that focused on the situation in Syria that led to Democrats breaking out of the group . 

During Wednesday’s tense showdown, Schumer referred to Mattis ‘appearance on” Meet the press, “where he warned that “ISIS will resume” if there is no U.S. pressure in the region.

Mattis resigned last year after he and trump said at the time that he and trump were landing over the removal of U.S. troops from Syria. 

“Like you, I said from the beginning that the armed forces of the United States should not be the police of the world,” Mattis wrote to Trump last December. “Instead, we must use all the tools of American power to ensure common defense, including ensuring effective leadership of our alliances.”