Allies Will ‘Face Consequences’ for Not Helping US, Hegseth Says

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(Bloomberg) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the US will help allies that step up on defense and punish partners that fail to do so, striking a combative tone as he appeared before Congress on Wednesday.

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“Model allies that step up, like Israel, South Korea, Poland, Finland, the Baltics, and others, will receive our special favor,” Hegseth said in prepared remarks for a budget hearing before the House Armed Services Committee. “Allies that do not – allies that still fail to do their part for collective defense – will face consequences.”

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The hearing — meant to discuss the Trump administration’s record $1.5 trillion defense budget request — offered lawmakers the first public opportunity to question the department’s senior officials regarding the US war against Iran, which began on Feb. 28.

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The war has shut a vital Persian Gulf waterway for oil and gas tankers, raised global energy prices and frayed US alliances in Europe, with President Donald Trump now trying to pressure Iran to negotiate an end to the war with a US naval blockade.

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The House Armed Services Committee’s senior Democrat, Washington’s Adam Smith, criticized the Trump administration for “gratuitously” insulting US allies in the NATO alliance and “going it alone” in Iran. 

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“What is the plan to achieve our objectives? We’ve seen the costs,” Smith said. He called the administration’s budget request “hopelessly unrealistic.” 

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Ahead of midterm elections where cost of living issues loom large, Republican lawmakers are reluctant to attempt selling constituents on a $440 billion increase in defense spending that would likely come at the expense of popular social programs.

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The US bombardment of Iran has also used up much of the US stockpiles of high-tech missiles and bombs. Hegseth has denied the war has depleted key munitions and said last week the blockade against Iran “is only growing and going global — and as the president said, we have all the time in the world.”

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Yet one of the reasons cited for such a big boost in defense spending involves replenishing the munitions that have been in heavy demand during the war — and used in the defense of Israel last year, when Iran retaliated for the bombing of its nuclear facilities.

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“Our global munitions stockpiles are low and we lack the capacity to rapidly restock magazine depth,” Rep. Mike Rogers, the committee’s Republican chairman, said in an opening statement that portrayed the record defense budget as a reversal of decades of underinvestment.

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On Wednesday, Hegseth also reiterated the Trump administration’s new stance toward China, saying the US wants “an approach aimed not at domination but rather at a balanced relationship.”

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—With assistance from John Harney.

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