Admin's charm offensive can't fix Trump's damage —it's 'too little, too late'

An esteemed historian and foreign policy scholar argued that President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Defense is trying to walk back his boss’ geopolitical mistakes — but it’s too little, too late.

“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stunned U.S. adversaries and allies at this year’s Shangri-La Dialogue of defense officials in Singapore,” The Wall Street Journal’s Walter Russell Mead wrote on Monday. “He did it in the most unexpected way: by delivering a thoughtful and sensible speech on the future of American defense policy in Asia.”

After praising Hegseth for giving “coherent and well-informed answers to questioners from large and small powers across the region,” he added that Trump’s hostile rhetoric toward Asian countries has undermined the effectiveness of Hegeth’s message. Even as the Defense Secretary urged a balance of powers and increased military spending in part to promote stability in the region.

“Conceptually at least, this approach is significantly more useful than Joe Biden’s emphasis on human rights and democracy promotion,” Mead argued. “The Trump administration’s approach to the region has its problems, some severe, but an approach incorporating moralistic posturing at the expense of important allies, aggressive rhetoric toward Beijing, and a steadfast refusal to match China’s steady military buildup was unlikely to end well.”

Yet despite these efforts to shore up the administration’s popularity in Asia, Mead pointed out that Hegseth has not addressed a serious problem.

“Many Asian allies were left wondering how far Washington will back Mr. Hegseth’s soothing words with serious deeds,” Mead wrote. “How does the secretary reconcile the value of speaking softly with his boss’s social-media presence? Does introducing uncertainty into American arms sales to Taiwan increase stability in the region? How does a mercurial trade policy contribute to the stable prosperity the Trump administration ostensibly seeks? Is America under Mr. Trump’s leadership the farseeing custodian of the international balance of power or the bull in the china shop of a precarious world order?”

He added, “Mr. Hegseth’s speech was silent on the subject on most of his audience’s minds: the U.S.-Iran war, which has closed the Strait of Hormuz to the sea traffic on which most of the region’s economies depend. Fuel and fertilizer price hikes are creating political and economic stress across the region. Remittances from Gulf-based workers in countries ranging from the Philippines to Pakistan provide vital support to families and economies. Asian views of the Trump administration will be shaped far more by the outcome of the conflict in the Gulf than by anything Mr. Hegseth or any other American official says in forums.”

Mead’s position is a contrast to that taken last month by the conservative commentator Will Saletan from The Bulwark. Saletan argued that Hegseth is literally the “dumbest person in the Trump administration.”

“Who do you think is the dumbest person in the Trump administration?” Saletan said. "Now, I know it's a tough contest, but I think the answer might be Pete Hegseth. I want to show you just how petty and incompetent and stupid this guy is.” As one example, he noted that Hegseth seems more focused on fighting domestic political wars than on the Iran war, even failing to name either the current or former head of Iran half an hour into his briefing on the war.

“American troops are out there fighting the enemy, but Pete Hegseth is back here fighting a domestic political war,” Saletan wrote, describing the Iran war as having “delivered twice the air power of shock and awe of Iraq in 2003, minus Paul Bremer and the nation building.”

He added, “Okay, we are in a war, we're literally in a war, and this guy is trying to have a size contest with the last Republican administration.”

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