3 days ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
In the Indo-Pacific, ‘America first' looks like American unpredictability
Within around 10 days in late May, three top US leaders – US President
Donald Trump , US Vice-President J.D. Vance and US Defence Secretary
Pete Hegseth – delivered speeches that together outlined the administration's evolving foreign policy vision.
Taken separately, each speech reaffirmed the US' commitment to strength and strategic deterrence. Yet when considered as a whole, they exposed a deep tension at the heart of America's global posture – especially in the
Indo-Pacific . For America's allies and partners in the region, these mixed messages raise questions about reliability, strategic clarity and long-term alignment.
At West Point on May 24, Trump reiterated his 'America first' doctrine, denouncing foreign entanglements and 'absurd ideological experiments'. He asserted that under his leadership, the military will refocus on core missions: 'crushing America's adversaries, killing America's enemies, and defending our great American flag'.
This was paired with an aggressive military posture. Trump emphasised overwhelming strength, boasting of new planes, tanks, drones and the creation of a
Golden Dome missile defence shield . For regional allies, this blend of retrenchment and military escalation signals a shift from global stewardship to transactional power projection.
A day earlier at the US Naval Academy, Vance presented similar realist rhetoric to Trump's, adding a bureaucratic lens. He said past leaders abandoned hard power for soft power and praised the administration's use of force in Yemen as a model of clarity and decisiveness.
The US vice-president also spoke of great-power competition, especially with China, and advocated maintaining a technological edge through investment in hypersonics, drones and battlefield innovation. This fusion of restraint and readiness further muddies the message: Is America stepping back from global policing or simply recalibrating how it asserts dominance?
