Trump Secretary of State Pick Rubio Voices ‘Strong’ Support for Aukus
(Bloomberg) -- US President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for the next secretary of state has voiced the incoming administration’s strongest backing yet for the Aukus security pact, likely reassuring Australian officials who have been privately concerned at its commitment to the deal.
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During his Senate confirmation hearings to be the US’s next top diplomat, Senator Marco Rubio said the second Trump administration would see “strong support” for the Australia-UK-US agreement, adding he believed it was an example of the best way to reinforce alliances with US partners across the globe.
“It’s almost a blueprint in many ways of how we can create consortium-like partnership with nation states that are allied to us to confront some of these global challenges,” Rubio told a committee. “It’s one example of how we can leverage the power of these partnerships with allies.”
Australia has been attempting to gauge support for Aukus inside the Trump camp for more than a year, amid concerns that the sometimes unpredictable incoming president might seek to alter or potentially even terminate the agreement.
Under Aukus, which was agreed to by President Joe Biden in September 2021, the US and the UK will work with Australia to provide Canberra with a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines. The deal is widely seen as a move to strengthen security ties between the Western partners in the face of growing strategic competition from China.
The first Virginia-class submarines are expected to arrive from the US in the early 2030s, meaning the Trump administration will be central to ensuring timely delivery of the vessels.
The Australian government has been reshaping its own military to accommodate the pivot to nuclear-powered submarines, moving toward autonomous systems and long-range missiles.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said at a press conference on Thursday in Canberra that he was confident the second Trump administration would be committed to Aukus.
“There is very broad support for Aukus across the Congress, across the US Senate, and I have no doubt there will be support for Aukus from the incoming administration,” he said.
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