Australia confident U.S. will proceed with AUKUS submarine deal after review

Australia’s defense minister said he was confident that the AUKUS submarine pact with the United States and Britain would proceed, and that his government would work closely with the U.S. while the Trump administration conducted a formal review.

SYDNEY — Australia’s defense minister said Thursday he was confident that the AUKUS submarine pact with the United States and Britain would proceed, and that his government would work closely with the U.S. while the Trump administration conducted a formal review.

Australia in 2023 committed to spend 368 billion Australian dollars ($239 billion) over three decades on AUKUS, the country’s biggest ever defense project with the U.S. and Britain, to acquire and build nuclear-powered submarines.

A Pentagon official said the administration was reviewing AUKUS to ensure it was “aligned with the President’s America First agenda” on the eve of expected talks between President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

In an Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio interview, Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said AUKUS was in the strategic interests of all three countries and that the new review of the deal signed in 2021 when Joe Biden was the U.S. president was not a surprise.

“I am very confident this is going to happen,” he said of AUKUS, which would give Australia nuclear-powered submarines.