Hegseth makes pit stop in Hawaii on way to Asia

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth stopped briefly in Hawaii on Monday as he made his way to Asia as part of a Pacific tour to meet with officials, alongside President Donald Trump’s first trip to Asia in his second term. A spokesperson for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said that his time Monday morning in Hawaii was brief as his plane stopped for fuel. Video published by Hawaii News Now showed Hegseth, along with his wife and several of his children, getting off the plane and mingling with a group of people during their short stay on the island. Hegseth’s tour includes stops in Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam and South Korea. Japan is fresh off the election of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, the country’s first woman to serve in the role and a firebrand conservative known for her hawkish approach to China. Hegseth is expected to meet with Takaichi’s new defense team during the visit. During an earlier visit to Hawaii in March, Hegseth made a speech at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Waikiki in which he proclaimed that the “America First” vision of foreign policy that Trump wants him to pursue “will require even greater attention to the partnerships that matter the most. And our alliances and partnerships in the Indo-Pacific matter a great deal to the United States. They matter because the Indo-Pacific is the region of consequence.” The Pacific tour takes place as the Trump administration is increasingly sending military forces to the Caribbean, where warships are assembling off the coast of Venezuela, a country where the administration has said that it seeks to see “regime change.” U.S. forces in the Caribbean have been engaged in a lethal — and controversial — campaign against alleged drug traffickers that has killed dozens of people. The strikes have targeted people on boats that administration officials say were “narco- terrorists,” but that in many cases families and government officials in Colombia and Venezuela say were But even as the administration devotes more forces to its growing operations in Latin America — including an aircraft carrier currently making its way there — officials say the Pacific remains a high priority as Washington and Beijing compete for influence and power, and as the U.S. and its allies seek to ensure navigation rights along key trade routes. According to the Pentagon, Hegseth will be traveling the region through Nov. 4.