Trump Official Presses Australia on 3.5% Defence Target
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- Jun 2
- 2 min read
The U.S. has put some serious pressure on Australia to up its defence spending – and fast. Over the weekend, U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth met with Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles at a key regional security conference in Singapore, and he didn’t mince words.
According to a Pentagon statement, Hegseth told Marles that Australia should boost its defence budget to 3.5% of GDP "as soon as possible" – a pretty significant jump from current levels.
Right now, Australia’s defence spending sits at around 2.02% of GDP, with plans to increase that to 2.33% by 2033–2034. So, this request from the U.S. marks a huge step up – potentially costing Australia tens of billions more.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese responded firmly, saying that Australia would determine its own defence policy.
“We’ll make our own decisions,” he said. “We’ve already committed an additional $10 billion to defence across the forwards.”
Hegseth, however, didn’t hold back. In a speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue – a major defence summit – he warned that China’s ambitions, especially toward Taiwan, are a real and potentially imminent threat.
“There is no reason to sugarcoat it,” he said. “The threat China poses is real. And it could be imminent.”
That’s why, he argued, U.S. allies like Australia need to step up and “do their part” when it comes to defence spending.
The two countries also talked about working more closely together on defence manufacturing, supply chain resilience, and increasing the U.S. military presence in Australia – something that’s already been underway through force posture initiatives.
For his part, Richard Marles acknowledged how important the U.S. presence in the Asia-Pacific is.
“It’s deeply welcome that the U.S. sees this region as a strategic priority,” he said. “But we can’t leave it all up to them.”
The conversation reflects a growing push for Australia to play a bigger role in regional security – but whether that will mean meeting the U.S.'s 3.5% spending target remains to be seen.
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