Extract from ABC News
The review will ensure AUKUS lines up with Donald Trump's agenda, a US defence official said. (Reuters: Nathan Howard)
In short:
The US is reviewing the AUKUS security pact with Australia and the UK, which Australia is depending on to acquire nuclear-powered submarines.
A US defence official said it would ensure the pact met President Donald Trump's "America First" agenda, as the US struggles to build enough submarines for its own fleet.
It comes less than two weeks after the US secretary of defense said Australia needed to significantly boost military spending.
The Pentagon is reviewing the AUKUS security pact between Australia, the US and the UK.
The review is designed to ensure the pact aligns with President Donald Trump's "America First" agenda, a US defence official told the ABC.
The official said: "As [Defense] Secretary [Pete] Hegseth has made clear, this means ensuring the highest readiness of our service-members, that allies step up fully to do their part for collective defence, and that the defence industrial base is meeting our needs."
It follows Mr Hegseth's recent request for Australia to significantly boost its defence spending "as soon as possible".
Under the AUKUS pact, Australia would be armed with nuclear-powered submarines at a cost of more than $350 billion.
Elbridge Colby, the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy who has voiced scepticism about AUKUS, is leading the review, according to the UK's Financial Times.
Last August, Mr Colby tweeted he was an AUKUS "agnostic".
"In principle it's a great idea. But I've been very skeptical in practice," he wrote, but added he'd become "more inclined based on new information I've gleaned".
The ABC has attempted to reach Mr Colby for comment.
A White House official told the ABC that the Trump administration was "regularly" reviewing foreign agreements to ensure they fit the America First agenda, especially those initiated by the Biden administration.
The Australian government paid the US almost $800 million earlier this year — the first in a series of payments to help America improve its submarine manufacturing capabilities.
AUKUS has enjoyed bipartisan support in all three countries, and senior Trump administration figures including Mr Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have previously spoken in support of it.
But late last month, Mr Hegseth met Defence Minister Richard Marles in Singapore, and said Australia needed to lift its defence spending.
Mr Trump himself has said little publicly about the AUKUS pact, and his criticisms of America's traditional alliances have fuelled anxieties about its future in Canberra and London.
When a reporter asked Mr Trump about AUKUS in February, he appeared to be unfamiliar with the term, replying: "What does that mean?"
The deal was announced by Mr Biden in 2021, when Australia terminated an earlier deal to purchase submarines from France.
Australia's AUKUS allies have seen changes in leadership since the deal was negotiated. (Reuters: Leah Millis)
Under "Pillar I" of the two-pillar AUKUS deal, the first submarine would arrive in Australia no sooner than 2032. It would be a second-hand US Virginia-class vessel.
The US would subsequently supply Australia with between three and five submarines, before Australia begins building its own in Adelaide, modelled on British designs.
Critics of the deal, including former prime ministers Malcolm Turnbull and Paul Keating, have long warned it is unfair and risky. "I've never done a deal as bad as this," Mr Turnbull told Radio National earlier this year.
The Greens have proposed a "plan B" defence policy that would eventually see AUKUS cancelled.
There are also longstanding concerns around the US's consistent failure to meet its own submarine-building targets to fully stock its military fleet.
Connecticut Democrat Joe Courtney, one of the most vocal supporters of the deal in the US Congress, said: "To abandon AUKUS — which is already well underway — would cause lasting harm to our nation's standing with close allies and certainly be met with great rejoicing in Beijing."
A UK government spokesperson told the ABC it was "understandable that a new administration would want to review its approach to such a major partnership, just as the UK did last year".
The Australian Embassy in Washington declined to comment when contacted by the ABC.
The ABC has sought further comment from the US and UK governments.
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