When you change your job title to Secretary of War – as Donald Trump’s defence secretary Pete Hegseth has attempted to do – it seems that conflict can find you everywhere.
At his first press conference in weeks, despite the conflict with Iran, a belligerent Hegseth seemed determined to set out how wonderfully operations against Iran were going, but time and again he kept taking swipes at other nations. Awkwardly, these were usually the USA’s allies.
Sounding at times more like a reality TV show loser than a senior government official, Hegseth said of Nato that “a lot has been laid bare, a lot has been shown to the world about what our allies would be willing to do…when we ask for additional assistance”.
It was the UK, though – whose politicians love to boast of the “special relationship” and “transatlantic alliance” – which came in for the biggest flak. Earlier today, the UK Government confirmed the King would head to the USA for a state visit next month to mark the 250th anniversary since the Declaration of Independence.
Trump greeted that diplomatic moment with what might euphemistically be termed a two-fingered salute. “All of those countries that can’t get jet fuel because of the Strait of Hormuz, like the United Kingdom, which refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran, I have a suggestion for you,” the President posted to Truth Social, before suggesting Britain should buy US jet fuel instead, adding “you’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us”.
Hegseth, speaking just minutes after Trump publicly insulted the UK – who lost almost 600 soldiers and sustained at least 5,500 casualties supporting the USA’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – made no effort to pour oil on troubled waters.
Instead, when asked if the US regarded reopening the Strait of Hormuz a requirement for it to declare victory in Iran, he noted dismissively that “last time I checked there was supposed to be a big bad Royal Navy”, before adding “this is an international waterway we use less than most”.
Hegseth may have intended this tough talk to come across as strength or belligerence. He was certainly trying to give the impression that the US had been trying to solve other countries’ problems with the Strait of Hormuz – rather than the very different reality, which was that blocking the Strait was very much a problem of the USA’s own making.
The overall impression, though, was of a man out of his depth. Hegseth described having recently visited US troops who told him they needed “more bombs, please” and who “want everything faster”, as if they were telling him how enthusiastic and gung-ho they were – instead of considering that they might have been asking him, as a senior government official, to send more missiles, amid reports interceptor stocks are running low.
For all that Pete Hegseth tried to project confidence, he spent a lot of time lashing out at the USA’s friends and allies – not something people typically do when they’re winning. Still, if he keeps up this kind of charm offensive, it may not be a problem for too long. The US only has so many friends left to insult, after all.
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