Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday that he would join President Trump on his trip to China this week.
Defense secretaries, including Mr. Hegseth, have previously traveled with presidents on overseas trips, to provide advice and represent the U.S. military during the visits. Mr. Hegseth has traveled to Asia several times in his tenure, mostly to attend security conferences and visit troops in the region.
Mr. Trump’s secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and more than a dozen chief executives are also set to be in China with the president.
Mr. Trump will meet with Xi Jinping, China’s leader, and their discussions are expected to include the war in Iran, trade and Taiwan.
The U.S. military’s blockade on Iranian shipping has angered China in the weeks before Mr. Trump’s trip. In public and private, Mr. Xi has demanded that the United States reopen the Strait of Hormuz, through which China imports about a third of its oil and gas.
A top Pentagon official said on Tuesday that China remained a top security threat despite recent shifts in the administration’s national defense strategy to focus on the Western Hemisphere.
“That has not changed — China’s engaged in the biggest military buildup in world history over the last 15 years,” Emil Michael, the under secretary of defense for research and engineering, told the Politico security conference in Washington.
Eric Schmitt is a national security correspondent for The Times. He has reported on U.S. military affairs and counterterrorism for more than three decades. Contact him securely on Signal: ericschmitt.36.
The post Hegseth to Accompany Trump on Trip to China appeared first on New York Times.
