Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will play host Friday to his first foreign counterpart since being confirmed by the Senate last month when Australia Defense Minister Richard Marles visits Washington, D.C.
The Australia Defense Ministry in a news release Thursday announced Marles' visit to meet with Hegseth and other members of the Trump administration, although the Pentagon has yet to formally announce it.
The Pentagon said Hegseth and Marles, who also is Australia's deputy prime minister, talked by phone on Jan. 29, five days after Hegseth was confirmed. In a readout of the call, the Pentagon said they discussed "key initiatives across the breadth of the U.S.-Australia Alliance." That includes the strategic environment in the Indo-Pacific region, support for Australia's Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance enterprise, and a trilateral security partnership between the U.S., Australia and the United Kingdom, know as AUKUS.
The first initiative of AUKUS, negotiated in 2021 during the Biden administration to counter China's threat in the region, is that the U.S. and Great Britain help the Royal Australian Navy acquire nuclear-powered submarines. Another is to "enhance joint capabilities and interoperability, focusing on cyber capabilities, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies and additional undersea capabilities."
"The Secretary conveyed the enduring commitment of the United States to the bilateral alliance with Australia and pledged to remain in close coordination with Deputy Prime Minister Marles," the Pentagon said.
Marles told Sky News on Wednesday he is seeking to get to know Hegseth in what he described as a "very important meeting," The Canberra Times reported. AUKUS will be front and center in their discussions.
Hegseth and Marles will visit Arlington National Cemetery to lay a wreath in honor of American service members and their families, the Defense Ministry said.
"I look forward to reaffirming Australia's commitment to the alliance, governed by our shared interests for a secure, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific," Marles told Sky News. "Our government will work closely with the Trump administration to realize the benefits of our strong economic and security partnership for our nations and the region."
The government of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been working behind the scenes with the Trump administration regarding the president's planned tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports, which have been paused for 30 days, and a 10% tariff on Chinese goods, the Times reported.
There are concerns that even though Australia is not a target of Trump's tariffs, a global trade war could be detrimental to the economy Down Under, especially with iron ore, the country's most valuable commodity.
"Overall, an international trade war is not going to be good for a trading nation," Warren Pearce, CEO of the Perth-based Association of Mining and Exploration Companies, told The Guardian. "We probably have more to lose from a trade war than we have to gain."