(31 May 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Singapore – 31 May 2025
++SOUNDBITES SEPARATED BY BLACK FRAMES++
++STARTS ON SOUNDBITE++
1. SOUNDBITE (English) Pete Hegseth, U.S. Defense Secretary:
"You see here the Indo-Pacific, our futures are bound together. The prosperity and security of the American people are linked to those of your people. We share your vision of peace and stability, of prosperity and security. And we are here to stay. And as a matter of fact, we are here this morning and somebody else isn’t."
++BLACK FRAMES++
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Pete Hegseth, U.S. Defense Secretary:
"I urge all of our allies and partners to seize this moment with us. Our defense spending must reflect the dangers and threats that we face today. Because deterrence doesn’t come on the cheap, just ask the American taxpayer. Time is of the essence. We must step up and move out with urgency. And it’s hard to believe a little bit, after some trips to Europe that I’m saying this, but thanks to President Trump, Asian allies should look to countries in Europe as a newfound example. NATO members are pledging to spend 5% of their GDP on defense. Even Germany. So it doesn’t make sense for countries in Europe to do that, while key allies in Asia spend less on defense in the face of an even more formidable threat, not to mention North Korea."
++BLACK FRAMES++
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Pete Hegseth, U.S. Defense Secretary:
"We’re equipping American warfighters with the most advanced capabilities so that we remain the strongest and most lethal fighting force in the world. President Trump is sending, for the first time ever, over $1 trillion next year to do this, a 13% increase in American defense spending. The Golden Dome for America, our new sixth generation fighter, the F47, our new Stealth Bomber, the B-21, new submarines, destroyers, hypersonics, drones, you name it. It’s all part of it."
++ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++
STORYLINE:
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth urged allies in the Indo-Pacific on Saturday to increase their defense spending amid increasing military and economic pressures from China.
"Our defense spending must reflect the dangers and threats that we face today. Because deterrence doesn’t come on the cheap, just ask the American taxpayer. Time is of the essence," Hegseth said at the Shangri-La Dialogue, a global security conference hosted by the International Institute for Security Studies.
He urged countries in the region to increase defense spending to levels similar to the 5% of their gross domestic product European nations are now pressed to contribute.
It’s not clear if the U.S. can or wants to supplant China as the region’s primary economic driver. But Hegseth’s push follows Trump’s visit to the Middle East, which resulted in billions of dollars in new defense agreements.
Hegseth said committing U.S. support for Indo-Pacific nations would not be based on any conditions on local governments aligning their cultural or climate issues with the West.
China usually sends its own defense minister to this conference — but in a snub this year to the U.S. and the erratic tariff war Trump has ignited with Beijing, its minister Dong Jun did not attend, something the U.S. delegation said it intended to capitalize on.
“We are here this morning. And somebody else isn’t,” Hegseth said.
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