The United States Army is not “abandoning” its allies, says Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The senior official refuted criticism of President Donald Trump's global strategy.
World leaders are making an error if they conclude that the effort of US President Donald Trump for reviewing the United States global military position means that Washington is retracting, valued Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
On Tuesday, Hegseth spoke with journalists in Stuttgart, Germany, headquarters of the European Command and the African Command of the United States, the first stop of his first international trip since he led an oath last month.
“It would be negligent not to review the position of strength everywhere, but it would be an assumption of wrong planning to say that the United States is abandoning something or that the United States leaves,” Hegseth explained.
“No, the United States is intelligent when observing, planning, prioritizing and projecting power where we need to dissuade the conflict,” he added.
The comments occur before the key meetings on Wednesday and Thursday in Brussels of the NATO Defense Ministers and the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a group of almost 50 countries that have committed to support Ukraine in their efforts to repel Russia.
The United States Defense officials have said that Hegseth is expected US defense emphasized Germany.
“The European continent deserves to be free from any aggression. But it should be the neighbors who invest in that individual and collective defense,” Hegseth said. “That is common sense.
“You defend your neighborhood and Americans will accompany you to help in that defense,” he said.
But it is not clear if that means that the United States will maintain a robust military presence throughout Europe.
Hegseth said Trump's impulse for a “rapid peace agreement in Ukraine” could allow the United States to change resources to counteract China's growing threat in the Indo-Pacific.
Threat of China
“There is no doubt that the ambitious pretensions of Chinese communists are solid,” Hegseth said to journalists. “His vision of the world is quite different from ours, and whoever wears that mantle will mark the tone for the 21st century.”
Hegseth also criticized Beijing for what he called pernicious intentions in Latin America and throughout Africa.
“The United States position there, along with that of its allies and partners, will be important to dispute that space,” he said.
Terrorism in Africa
Then Hegesh left open the possibility of the United States from maintaining a military presence in Africa, including Somalia, despite Trump's decision to withdraw US forces of the country during his first term.
“Africa is largely the first line of combat of Islamists,” said Hegseth. “We will not allow them to maintain a support point, especially to try to attack the United States.”
Currently, the US has about 500 special operations in Somalia, which help government forces to deal with the Somali subsidiary of the Islamic State terrorist group and Shabab, linked to Al Qaeda.
“I want to listen to the commanders on the ground, first of all,” said Hegseth, and added that, although the United States will maintain the forces where they are necessary, there is a preference for “making an effective contributory on the horizon.”
Earlier this month, American air attacks aimed at a high -ranking planner of the Islamic State in the Golis Mountains in Somalia.
Defense expenditure
On Tuesday, Hegseth also promised to find ways to make the United States defense expense more efficient, and said he will host the help of Elon Musk, the billionaire who directs the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge, for his acronym in English) Trump's non -governmental.
“I hope to welcome Elon to the Pentagon very soon,” he said. “There is waste, redundancies and excess staff at the central headquarters that must be addressed.”
As an example, Hegseth pointed out Pentagon programs focused on addressing climate change.
“The Department of Defense is not dedicated to climate change, or to solve the global thermostat,” he said. “We dedicate ourselves to deter and win wars.”
However, he added that efforts to reduce waste would not be “to the detriment of US operational or tactical capacities.”
Even while the waste is reduced, said Hegseth, the United States needs to spend more on defense, and asks to spend at least 3 % of the gross domestic product (GDP).
The Trump administration has asked NATO allies, many of whom have lagged behind the United States in military financing, to spend at least 5 % of GDP in defense.