Defense Secretary James Mattis received incoming White House national security adviser John Bolton at the Pentagon on Thursday, and joked that he heard Bolton was “the devil incarnate.”

“Mr. Secretary, it’s so good to see you. Thank you for inviting me over,” Bolton told Mattis upon his arrival, as captured by reporters’ microphones. 

“Thank you for coming. It’s good to finally meet you. I heard you’re actually the devil incarnate, and I wanted to meet you,” Mattis joked.

 President Trump announced last week that Bolton would be replacing national security adviser H.R. McMaster.