Richard Marles’ chaotic US trip exposes issues in Australia’s defence spending
Pressure is mounting for Australia to urgently address US’ defence spending demands in the wake of Richard Marles’ disorganised Washington trip, as concerns over the critical alliance grow.
Washington’s demands for Australia to urgently increase defence spending won’t stop until Canberra addresses the issue head on, an expert has warned.
But questions over how far Australia is willing to go to confront the issue, and when there will be an opportunity to do so, loom large after Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles’ chaotic trip to Washington this week.
The Defence Minister secured facetime with some of the administration’s most senior and influential figures including Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller.
Both Vance and Rubio are tipped as Mr Trump’s potential successors for the 2028 Republican Presidential ticket.
However the chaotic circumstances surrounding the visit have done little to quell growing concerns over the state of the relationship between the two countries.
Despite announcing a meeting with his US counterpart Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth as the purpose for his two-day trip to the United States capital, the Australian minister had still not locked in an appointment by the end of the first day.
Instead he said he would meet with other senior figures in the Trump administration, including Mr Vance, Mr Rubio and Mr Miller.
On Tuesday local time, Mr Marles triumphantly posted photos of himself at the White House alongside Mr Hegseth, Mr Vance and later Mr Rubio.
He then left town without answering questions about the outcome of those meeting’s outcomes, cancelling a scheduled press conference and fuelling speculation about the success of the visit.
Instead he released a four-line statement saying the US-Australia defence relationship “continues to grow and deepen”.
“We are seeing this across the breadth of our co-operation be it through our work together on AUKUS, US Force Posture initiatives, our recent bilateral defence exercise Talisman Sabre, or the growing ties between our two defence industries,” Mr Marles said.
It is unclear whether the Trump administration expressed a commitment to AUKUS during the discussions.
The Pentagon later added further uncertainty in a statement to this masthead saying the two defence chiefs merely met in a “happenstance encounter” – making it unlikely any issues of substance were actually broached.
Hours later, US defence officials back flipped, instead describing it as an arranged meeting.
The Vice President did not respond to questions about the meeting when asked in person or through his press office.
The chaotic circumstances surrounding the trip and the silence from both sides on any tangible outcomes is yet another blow for the alliance already clouded in uncertainty.
Seven months into Mr Trump’s new term, he has hosted a conga line of foreign leaders through the Oval Office.
Meanwhile Australia’s Prime Minister is yet to secure an in-person meeting to discuss pressing issues of defence spending, the AUKUS pact currently under review by the Pentagon and tariffs.
Mr Hegseth and Mr Marles last met in person in Singapore in May, where the American said Australia urgently needed to increase defence spending to 3.5 per cent of its GDP.
Since then, Australia has given no indication it will comply with that request.
Meanwhile America’s NATO allies have committed to boosting defence spending to five per cent by 2035.
Centre for Strategic and International Studies Australia Chair Charles Edel said while the US-Australia relationship was still strong, there were serious questions on both sides that had added a level of uncertainty about the future of the alliance.
Mr Edel said the criticism of Australia’s defence budget was not just limited to within the Trump administration.
It has been a point of bipartisan discussion in Congress.
“The pressure is not likely to go away, and so therefore this is a question that until it’s addressed head on, is not going to leave the conversation,” he said.
Mr Edel said while he believed a commitment by Australia to increase defence spending could lead to a more favourable outcome in the Pentagon’s current review of the AUKUS defence pact, he said that review went far broader than spend levels.
Another point of contention continuing to simmer is Anthony Albanese’s decision to recognise a Palestinian State in a major split from the United States.
Mr Edel said that decision has the potential to impact future negotiations on broader unrelated issues like defence, AUKUS and trade, noting Mr Trump had been known to link tariffs to a wide range of gripes.
“Will it have an impact? It will. What that impact is, the size of that impact, we can’t quite say when there are other significant issues,” he said.
“There is concern that a resolution that moves to recognise a Palestinian state neither advances stability on the ground, and might indeed put fuel on the fire of rampant anti-Semitism that we’ve seen around the world in the US and certainly in Australia as well.
“So whether or not this does anything to actually meaningfully advance stability in the region, as opposed to a gesture is the point of contention here.”
Mr Edel said the Trump administration was no doubt aware of the angst in Canberra and beyond over the Australian Prime Minister’s failure to lock in a meeting with the American President.
However, he said he did not believe the White House was using the issue as a negotiating tactic or as a means to send a message to Canberra.
There are hopes the two leaders will finally come face-to-face at the United Nations General Assembly in New York next month.
But White House officials say the President’s schedule is not yet confirmed, and could not say if Mr Albanese would be extended an invite to visit Mr Trump at the White House.
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Originally published as Richard Marles’ chaotic US trip exposes issues in Australia’s defence spending
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