U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth visits Andersen Air Force Base in Guam on March 27. During the visit, he met the president of the Federated States of Micronesia. (U.S. Air Force photo)
KEN MORIYASU
WASHINGTON -- On his first trip to the Indo-Pacific as U.S. defense secretary last week, Pete Hegseth embraced America's alliances and reaffirmed its commitment to sustaining robust deterrence in the region, including across the Taiwan Strait.
But he also made a little-noticed announcement at the start of the trip that points to another priority for the second Trump administration's Indo-Pacific strategy: bolstering the "second island chain."