Within the first 30 days of the second Trump administration, the United States has focused on its bilateral defense alliances in Southeast Asia, with U.S. secretary of defense Pete Hegseth holding phone calls with counterpart officials in the Philippines and Thailand.
On February 5th, Hegseth and Philippine secretary of national defense Gilberto Teodoro, Jr. held an introductory phone call to discuss the U.S.-Philippines defense alliance. The call, only two weeks after Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s call with Philippine secretary of foreign affairs Enrique Manalo, reiterated the importance of joint efforts reestablishing deterrence in the South China Sea. The two also reaffirmed the United States’s ironclad commitment to the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty. And two weeks after this phone call, the Philippines announced that $336 million of an allocated $500 million in U.S. military funding had been exempted from Trump’s $5.3 billion pause in foreign aid. The $336 million, allocated to modernize Philippine security forces, is one of three security financing exemptions made by the Trump administration, alongside allocations for Taiwan and Ukraine.
Later in the month, Thailand had its first high-level phone call with the new administration between Hegseth and Thai deputy prime minister and defense minister Phumtham Wechayachai. Both countries acknowledged the long-standing U.S.-Thailand alliance and discussed opportunities to strengthen the bilateral defense relationship. Alongside reaffirming the United States’s commitment to Thailand’s military modernization, Hegseth also discussed possibilities in expanding military exercises and deepening cyber and defense industrial base cooperation. The phone call came right before the United States and Thailand launched the 44th iteration of the Cobra Gold military exercises in Thailand. Cobra Gold, the largest joint and combined exercise in the Indo-Pacific region, is considered a “longstanding symbol of the U.S.-Thailand defense alliance.” This year, the exercises will include over 8,000 personnel from both nations, as well as participants from approximately 30 nations.
As the pieces fall into place over the new administration’s first 30 days, Trump is prioritizing established bilateral defense alliances. And while some Southeast Asian allies can reap the benefits, the region continues to hold its breath over the uncertainty of U.S. foreign aid.
Lauren Mai is a Program Coordinator and Research Assistant for the Southeast Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C.
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