‘Noticeably fickle': Trump's new submarine chief a critic of Australia
Jerry Hendrix, a retired navy captain who holds a senior role in the president's Office of Management and Budget, said last year that 'the Australians have been noticeably fickle' about AUKUS and queried if the deal had true bipartisan support.
Meanwhile, with AUKUS under review by the Pentagon, the heads of a US congressional committee on China have written to the Trump administration to defend the agreement, arguing it would 'dramatically enhance' collective efforts to defend against Beijing's aggression.
The letter to Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth is the second time in as many months that members of the US Congress from both sides of politics have written to the former Fox News host to defend AUKUS, underlining fears a US review of the pact will recommend major changes.
This masthead has reported the review is focusing on four main concerns, one of which is the capacity of the American shipbuilding industry to build enough nuclear-powered submarines to meet US demands and fulfil AUKUS obligations – a long-standing concern.
In April, Trump signed an executive order to 'restore America's maritime dominance', which established a shipbuilding unit on the National Security Council under Ian Bennitt. But the NSC has been downsized and Bennitt has left for the private sector, with the shipbuilding program moved to the Office of Management and Budget.
Hendrix, whose title at the office is deputy to the associate director (defence), has been critical of Australia. In May 2024, he told US conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt that he was not convinced there was lasting bipartisan support for the AUKUS agreement in Canberra.
'I am not sure, given the political parties in Australia, whether the next administration that comes in, the next prime minister, will provide similar support to AUKUS as the present government does,' he said.
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