Deposit paid: Trump ‘very aware’ of AUKUS as Marles hands over $800m

Washington: President Donald Trump supports the AUKUS defence pact and appreciates Australia’s financial support for American naval shipbuilding, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has said, as the US received its first $800 million down payment from Australia for its future submarine production.

Defence Minister Richard Marles, who is also deputy prime minister, became the first foreign counterpart to meet Hegseth since his controversial confirmation to the role, as he shored up the new administration’s commitment to AUKUS during a trip to Washington.

Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles at the Pentagon. Credit: AP

During their meeting at the Pentagon, also attended by Australia’s ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd, Hegseth delivered the first clear indication Trump supports the deal.

“The president is very aware [and] supportive of AUKUS,” Hegseth said. “[He] recognises the importance of the defence industrial base … the investment Australia is willing to make. It enhances our [the US’s] ability in the subterranean space, but also our allies and partners.

“This is not a mission in the Indo-Pacific that America can undertake by itself. It has to be robust allies and partners, tech sharing, and subs are a huge part of it … He [Trump] is aware of it and appreciative.”

As part of the agreement, which is expected to cost Australia up to $368 billion over 30 years, the government is investing $US3 billion ($4.7 billion) in American shipyards that will produce the Virginia-class nuclear-powered subs Australia is due to purchase in the 2030s.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said Donald Trump was “very aware [and] supportive” of the AUKUS agreement.Credit: AP

Marles said the first tranche of that funding, $US500 million ($800 million), was paid last week. The money is supposed to help the US ramp up submarine production, which has struggled to keep pace with need in recent years, and avoid a scenario where the US decides it needs the boats itself.

With Trump demanding US allies spend more on defence, Marles said he impressed on Hegseth that Australia was undertaking “one of the largest increases in defence spending in our peacetime history”, and said Hegseth was “aware of that”.

Australia’s defence spending has sat at about 2 per cent of gross domestic product, though Treasury forecasts an increase to 2.4 per cent by 2027-28. While not speaking specifically about Australia, Trump has made clear that in general, he sees that figure as too low – for example, he wants NATO allies to spend 5 per cent.

Marles meets Hegseth in Washington on Friday (US time).Credit: AP

Marles did not answer directly when asked whether he had sought assurances that Australia would not be asked to plunge more than the planned $US3 billion into propping up American shipbuilding. But he noted Australia’s subsidy was a “very unique” arrangement not replicated in other defence pacts globally.

“It’s an agreement ... that’s going to endure over decades. We are very confident about its progress under this administration,” he said. The two men did not discuss the president’s mooted takeover of Gaza, Marles said.

Asked if he had concerns about Trump’s dismantling of US foreign aid agency USAID, and the implications it could have for development assistance in the Pacific, Marles said Australia had consistently advocated to US administrations about its need to play a strong role in the region.

“To be fair, in the first Trump administration we saw a real step up,” he said. “We’ll continue to advance that case.” Marles noted the US maintained a strong presence in the Pacific through the US Coast Guard, for example.

A digital mock-up of a Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarine underwater. Credit: ADF

But critics of Trump’s determination to gut USAID – one of the country’s key soft power vehicles around the world – say it risks allowing other states, such as China, to occupy that role.

Democratic congressman Joe Courtney, co-chair of the Friends of Australia Caucus, told this masthead: “To just back off or shut down the agency is just going to create a vacuum that China I’m sure is more than happy to fill.”

Courtney and other members of the Australia caucus met Marles on Capitol Hill.

“Today’s payment strengthened the ties of our two nations and the AUKUS agreement, ensuring the mission will endure and the US submarine industrial base can meet the demands of the security agreement,” Courtney said.

“At every step of the way Australia has demonstrated AUKUS is a true partnership that the US benefits from as much as our partners and allies in the region.”

The visit follows a meeting on January 21, a day after Trump’s inauguration, between Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who also indicated the administration’s support for AUKUS.

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