US President Donald Trump addresses the nation from the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on December 17, 2025. (Photo by Doug MILLS / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)
U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (R) looks on as U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting of his Cabinet in the Cabinet Room of the White House on December 02, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Questions have swirled about what the administration's Taiwan policy will look like, as the White House pushes for an "America First" diplomatic approach.
Pete Hegseth, US Secretary of War, and Marco Rubio, US Secretary of State, wait as U.S. President Donald Trump is due to address the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, on October 13, 2025 in Jerusalem. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Adm. Kevin Lunday, acting Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, claps during the 144th Commencement Exercises at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, May 21, 2025. (DHS photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Mikaela McGee.)
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 20: U.S. President Donald Trump calls on reporters during a meeting with Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese (L), Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles during a bilateral meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House on October 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. Albanese is visiting the U.S. Capital to meet with President Trump and later visit the Pentagon. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Kirsten Davies, nominee to be chief information officer of the Defense Department, arrives for her Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing in Dirksen building on Thursday, September 18, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images)
Screenshot of Mark Roosevelt Ditlevson, acting assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and hemispheric affairs, testifying at a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee military and foreign affairs subcommittee hearing, on addressing unauthorized drone activity over U.S. military installations, April 29, 2025.
Mark Roosevelt Ditlevson's nomination comes as the Trump administration expands military activities in the U.S. homeland and the Western Hemisphere, including deploying troops to Democrat-led American cities…
U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth speaks to senior military leaders at Marine Corps Base Quantico on September 30, 2025 in Quantico, Virginia. In an unprecedented gathering, almost 800 generals, admirals and their senior enlisted leaders have been ordered into one location from around the world on short notice. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)