HONOLULU | U.S. allies and partners in the Asia Pacific are key to countering the mounting threat posed by China and deterring a war, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday.
The new Trump administration’s defense and military policies were outlined by the defense secretary as a combination of placing primacy on American interests together with Ronald Reagan-era peace through strength initiatives.
The Pentagon’s new approach will seek to restore the warrior ethos in the military after four years of woke diversity policies under the Biden administration that undermined recruitment, he said.
The administration also plans a major military buildup to strengthen deterrence against conflict, Mr. Hegseth said.
“We will work with our allies and our partners to deter the Communist Chinese and their aggression in the Indo-Pacific, full stop,” Mr. Hegseth said in a speech to the Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies, a Pentagon think tank here.
“By standing shoulder to shoulder with you, our allies and partners, we will put our enemies, our adversaries, those who stand against us on notice. Each ally, each partner, each friend, contributes their own unique capabilities to regional deterrence,” Mr. Hegseth said.
President Trump has made clear that the United States will establish global peace through increasing American power, militarily, economically and in other ways that Mr. Hegseth termed “an America First approach.”
“But ’America First’ does not mean ’America Only’ or ’America Alone,’ ignoring allies and partners,” the new Pentagon chief said. “It means that our military-to-military relationships must make sense for the United States and for our friends.”
Mr. Trump has called on U.S. allies in Asia and Europe, including Japan and Taiwan, to increase their military power instead of relying as heavily on U.S. support and assistance as they have.
Mr. Hegseth said imbalances between U.S. and allied defense and military efforts will be rectified.
“We will find them, and we’re going to fix those imbalances. We will right-size the obligations and responsibilities needed for modern deterrence and defense,” he said.
Seeking greater allied defense efforts was a key part of discussions at the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command on Monday in talks with commander Adm. Sam Paparo.
“In some cases, it will require even greater attention to the partnerships that matter the most, and our alliances and partnerships in the Indo-Pacific matter a great deal to the United States,” Mr. Hegseth said.
Mr. Hegseth said he emphasized the region in recent conversations with defense and military chiefs in Australia, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, India, Thailand, Singapore and others.
The discussions centered on what he said is the new focus on establishing peace through strength, which will also be a topic of Mr. Hegseth’s talks with leaders in Japan and the Philippines later this week.
Mr. Hegseth said in restoring the warrior ethos, forces in the Indo-Pacific region will be better trained and equipped with the goal of being the best military force in the world.
Signs also show that military recruitment numbers also are increasing at “historic levels” among all services, he said.
U.S. adversaries are taking notice of the stepped-up readiness and capabilities, Mr. Hegseth said.
A key element of rebuilding military forces will be strengthening the defense industrial base so that the Pentagon can “rapidly and responsibly deliver the right tools to our war fighters in real time,” he said.
“We will also deliver those tools rapidly and responsibly to our allies and to our partners,” Mr. Hegseth said.
Allied ministers of defense have urged the Pentagon to do more to deliver weapons and other equipment needed for deterrence, he said.
Another way to boost defense production will be to co-produce platforms and munitions with allies, he said.
On military deterrence, Mr. Hegseth said a renewed focus on dissuading conflict creates advantages for the United States and its allies and partners.
Strengthening military power also deters enemies by “creating dilemmas” for adversaries’ calculus in deciding whether or not to attack, he said.
“Our mission is to deter war, but, if necessary, we will together, defeat and destroy our enemies,” Mr. Hegseth said.
The vision of Mr. Trump is for the Indo-Pacific to remain a free and open region where all nations can prosper as sovereign, independent states.
“It’s a vision in which the United States remains engaged with and invested in and focused on truly the Indo-Pacific,” he said. “It’s a vision in which our allies and partners are at the forefront of deterring aggression.”
Last week, Mr. Trump announced plans to develop the next-generation stealth fight known as the F-47, a key element in the military rebuilding, Mr. Hegseth said.
Mr. Hegseth said he told the president in a meeting that “I believe my kids and my grandkids will thank him for having the willingness to make that choice and invest in a platform of that strategic significance which is needed, specifically in this part of the world, to continue to maintain deterrence. I hope, and I believe that message was sent supported by and in partnership with capable, like-minded allies and partners.”
The 21st century, he said, will be a U.S.-led and freedom-loving century.
“That’s truly what is at stake,” he said.
