Washington: Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of state has given the strongest indication yet that the new US administration will continue to back the AUKUS submarine pact, describing it as a blueprint for other partnerships to take on China.
In comments that will reassure Australia and the UK about the defence agreement’s future, Florida senator Marco Rubio told a Senate confirmation hearing that, if he is given the go-ahead to be Trump’s top diplomat, the deal is “something that I think you’re going to find very strong support for in this administration”.
Donald Trump at a rally in November with Marco Rubio, who has been nominated as secretary of state.Credit: AP
“I think it’s almost a blueprint, in many ways, of how we can create consortium-like partnerships with nation states that are allied to us to confront some of these global challenges, be it in the defence realm, in the technology realm, in the critical minerals realm,” said Rubio, a China hawk who ran for the Republican nomination against Trump in 2016.
“It’s one example of how we can leverage the power of these partnerships with allies … to reach outcomes and objectives, such as creating a geopolitical and strategic balance in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.”
AUKUS was unveiled by Australia, the UK and US in 2021 as part of a broader strategy to counter China’s economic and military advances in the Indo-Pacific.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese with US President Joe Biden in San Diego in March 2023 for the joint AUKUS announcement with his US and UK counterparts.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Trump has not yet spoken about the pact publicly, but former prime minister Scott Morrison says the president-elect gave his “warm” support to the deal during a private meeting between the pair at Trump Tower in New York in May.
His controversial nominee for secretary of defence, Pete Hegseth, also told his confirmation hearing that, if he is appointed to run the Pentagon, working with allies to safeguard the Info-Pacific would be one of his key priorities.
Hegseth also name-checked AUKUS and Australia – along with allies such as Japan and South Korea – while being grilled by Democrat senator Tammy Duckworth about which countries were members of ASEAN, the Association of South East Asian Nations.
