Pete Hegseth: Administration Is 'Not Making The Same Mistakes' Of Regime Change, Nation-Building, Open-Ended Wars

Forbes Breaking News

At the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Friday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke about the Trump administration's national security goals.

Transcript

00:00As our allies share the burden, we increase our focus on the Indo-Pacific, our priority here.

00:08You see, here in the Indo-Pacific, our futures are bound together.

00:12The prosperity and security of the American people are linked to those of your people.

00:18We share your vision of peace and stability, of prosperity and security.

00:23And we are here to stay.

00:25And as a matter of fact, we are here this morning.

00:31Somebody else isn't.

00:34But for a generation, the United States ignored this region.

00:39We became distracted by open-ended wars, regime change, and nation building.

00:43I had a front row seat as a soldier in Iraq and Afghanistan.

00:48These costly diversions lacked clearly defined goals and were not tied to vital and core American interests.

00:55President Trump is changing that.

00:57We are not making the same mistakes, not this generation and not now.

01:01We are done with that approach.

01:04We're focused on delivering for the American people, on safeguarding their security, on protecting their economic interests,

01:11and on using common sense to preserve peace in the Indo-Pacific.

01:16You know, standing here in Singapore, I think this approach aligns quite well with the pragmatic style of Singapore's legendary Prime Minister,

01:26Lee Huan Yew.

01:27Across three decades, he built this country in one of the world's most important hubs of finance and innovation.

01:36Like the late Prime Minister, President Trump's approach is grounded in common sense and natural interests,

01:43built on a willingness to work with others

01:46while respecting mutual self-interest

01:48and informed by an understanding of military strength

01:52but shaped by a preference for engaging on the basis of commerce and sovereignty.

02:00Not world.

02:02These two historic men share a willingness to challenge all ways of doing things

02:06that no longer make sense.

02:07We refuse to accept any paradigm that makes conflict inevitable.

02:15As President Trump said in Riyadh,

02:18a historic speech in Saudi Arabia,

02:20America does not have or seek permanent enemies.

02:25Under President Trump's leadership,

02:26we are applying this common-sense approach to defense

02:29here in the Indo-Pacific and throughout the world.

02:33And we believe the results feature themselves.

02:35President Trump is leading European allies to step up in their own defense, as I mentioned.

02:41He is striking new, fairer trade deals that protect Americans

02:44while providing a lasting and secure basis for commerce.

02:49Not to mention resilient, anti-fragile, and reliable supply chains

02:53for our and your defense teams.

02:58He is also rebalancing security and defense arrangements

03:00with key allies in the region.

03:02This enables all of us to benefit from the peace and stability

03:06that comes with a lasting and strong American presence

03:10here in the Indo-Pacific.

03:12These benefits, they only multiply

03:14when our allies and partners are also strong.

03:19As President Trump also said in Riyadh,

03:22the United States is not interested

03:24in the moralistic and preachy approach

03:28to foreign policy of the past.

03:31We're not here to pressure other countries

03:34to embrace or adopt policies or ideologies.

03:38We're not here to preach to you

03:40about climate change or cultural issues.

03:44We're not here to impose our will on you.

03:47We are all sovereign nations.

03:50We should be able to choose the future we want to build.

03:52We respect you, your traditions, and your militaries.

03:57And we want to work with you

03:58where our shared interests align

04:01for peace and prosperity.

04:05On an assured foundation of mutual interests

04:07and common sense,

04:08we will build and strengthen

04:09our defense partnerships

04:10to preserve peace and increase prosperity.

04:16But a threat gathers.

04:20As we all know,

04:21strength and security underpin peace

04:23and enable prosperity.

04:25And our common sense approach

04:27to achieving security,

04:28achieving peace through strength,

04:30requires seeing things crystal clearly.

04:33It requires confronting obvious truth

04:37about the threats that we face

04:38in the Indo-Pacific.

04:39And it requires beating those threats

04:41into a very real sense of urgency.

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