Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware was pressured to present Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth a historical past and overseas coverage lesson on Wednesday.
Throughout a Senate price range subcommittee listening to, Hegseth dismissively downplayed the contributions of European allies in previous wars, utilizing Afghanistan—the place he served—for example.
“Mr. Secretary, let’s just make clear for the record that our military partners in Afghanistan included many who served and died. Our Danish partners and allies on a per capita basis, suffered more,” Coons mentioned earlier than being interrupted by Hegseth.
“As I pointed out in my opening comments, our partners and allies have stepped up, have invested, have engaged in the defense of Ukraine, and so should we,” Coons continued calmly.
He added, “We should not be pursuing a ceasefire and a negotiated resolution to the war in Ukraine at any cost. Peace through strength means actually using our strength, continuing to support Ukraine and securing a lasting peace. Putin will only stop when we stop him.”
Hegseth’s dismissive angle towards U.S. allies’ contributions mirrors President Donald Trump’s tendency to ingratiate himself with dictators like Vladimir Putin and threatening to withdraw from NATO. The Trump administration’s continued antagonism towards U.S. allies has, unsurprisingly, not yielded any constructive outcomes.
Hegseth appeared earlier than the Senate twice in two days, defending Trump’s resolution to deploy Marines to Los Angeles with out the consent of native state and metropolis officers.
Coons’ potential to focus on that Hegseth is barely certified to be a Fox Information contributor, a lot much less a overseas coverage analyst, is a necessary reminder of the Trump administration’s ineptitude.
