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Trump has 500 million reasons to back AUKUS. It might not be enough

The new Pentagon chief has shut down one avenue of criticism of AUKUS but pitfalls remain.

Andrew Tillett
Andrew TillettForeign affairs, defence correspondent
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Critics of AUKUS who argue Donald Trump would kill off the deal to help Australia acquire nuclear-powered submarines should end their naysaying now.

Of course they won’t, but Defence Minister Richard Marles’ dash to Washington DC to meet his new US counterpart, Pete Hegseth, paid a powerful dividend in ensuring the Trump administration was locked in behind AUKUS.

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Andrew Tillett writes on politics, foreign affairs, defence and security from the Canberra press gallery. Connect with Andrew on Facebook and Twitter. Email Andrew at andrew.tillett@afr.com
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    Original URL: https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/trump-has-500-million-reasons-to-back-aukus-it-might-not-be-enough-20250209-p5lap0