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.
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