“Model allies that step up – like Israel, South Korea, Poland, increasingly Germany, the Baltics and others will receive our special favour,” Hegseth told the Reagan conference. “Allies that do not – allies that still fail to do their part for collective defence – will face consequences.”
The US under Trump sought “real partnerships and alliances based on hard power, not just flags and fancy conferences”, he said. “Our allies are not children. They are nations capable of doing far more for themselves than they have. It’s time they stand up, and they are.”
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The speech comes two days after the White House released its broad National Security Strategy, with sweeping changes for how the world is seen and dealt with by Washington.
It included a warning that Europe faced “civilisational erasure” from mass migration and the loss of national sovereignty, as well as a new focus on the US’s own backyard, the Western Hemisphere, and a revival of the so-called Monroe Doctrine.
In the Indo-Pacific, the document treated Australia differently to Japan and South Korea. While they were told they “must” increase defence spending, on Australia and Taiwan the US would only “maintain our determined rhetoric” on higher expenditure.
That reflects the attitude of President Donald Trump when he met with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in October. Asked about Australia’s defence spending, which is less than 3 per cent of GDP, Trump was relaxed, saying, “You can only do so much.”
The Albanese government argues that, rather than the official Treasury figure of 2 per cent, it actually spends about 2.8 per cent of GDP on defence, using the same formula as NATO.
Trump also emphatically committed to honouring the AUKUS defence pact, including the sale of three US nuclear-powered submarines to Australia starting in 2032.
US lagging on military production
But at Saturday’s (Sunday AEDT) Reagan forum in Simi Valley, California, senior administration and military officials spoke about the ongoing difficulty of ramping up US military production, including the Virginia-class submarines Australia expects to receive.
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“Coming back into office, the thing I’ve been blown away by is how far behind we are on these programs,” said Trump’s director of the US Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought.
“I don’t know how many times we’ve said we want more Virginia submarines and ships built. So, it’s not just market demand, it’s execution at these companies to be able to make their contracts and stay on time.”
Admiral Daryl Caudle, who told Congress in July that the US was not making enough submarines to honour AUKUS commitments, said there was no shortcut to increase shipbuilding to the level required.
“Moving the tool chest closer, giving [workers] an iPad – that’s not going to give me the 100 per cent increase I need,” he told the Reagan conference. “I’ve got a capacity issue that needs to be addressed.”
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