US Navy hints at upgrades to submarine pact as AUKUS supporters celebrate Trump endorsement

Australia’s defence sector is celebrating Donald Trump’s first substantive endorsement of the AUKUS deal while the US Navy Secretary hints at “improvements” to the partnership ahead of American submarine deployments to Western Australia.

Speaking alongside Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the US President declared the Biden-era agreement was going “full steam ahead” and described new submarine facilities south of Perth as “magnificent”.

Under the AUKUS partnership, US nuclear-powered submarines are scheduled to begin regular deployments to Perth’s HMAS Stirling naval base from 2027 and Australia will begin receiving second-hand Virginia-class vessels in the early 2030s.

In June, senior Pentagon official Elbridge Colby began a review of AUKUS to examine whether it aligns with the US administration’s “America First” agenda, but President Trump has now indicated his intention to expedite the deal, not withdraw from it.

“It was made a while ago and nobody did anything about it. It was going too slowly. We do actually have a lot of submarines, we have the best submarines anywhere in the world.”

“We’re building a few more, currently under construction, and now we have it all set. With Anthony (Albanese), we’ve worked on this long and hard. We’re starting that process right now. I think it’s really moving along very rapidly, very well”.

When asked whether Australia’s spending on defence was too low, President Trump insisted “I’d always like more” before praising the Albanese government for work being done in preparation for US submarine deployments.

“They’re building magnificent holding pads for the submarines — it’s going to be expensive too. You wouldn’t believe the level of complexity, right, and how expensive it is.”

“They’re building tremendous docking because they have a lot of ships and a lot of things happening and I think their military’s been very strong — very, very strong,” Mr Trump observed.

Last month the Albanese government announced a $12b “down payment” to revitalise the Henderson defence precinct south of Perth to improve shipbuilding facilities and to develop “contingency docking capabilities” for nuclear­ powered submarines.

To address concerns that America’s submarine production rate is too slow to be able to sell AUKUS boats in the future, the Australian government is transferring $4.7b to the United States to lift its domestic capacity.

US Navy Secretary John Phelan was one of half a dozen senior Trump administration officials to join the meeting and said domestic submarine production was “getting better” but hinted at ambiguities in the AUKUS deal to be sorted out.

“What we’re really trying to do is take the original AUKUS framework and improve it for all three parties, make it better and clarify some of the ambiguity that was in the prior agreement. So, it should be a win-win for everybody.”

President Trump then stepped in to address Mr Phelan’s comments, saying: “He’s getting that taken care of — these are just minor details. You’re going to get that taken care of right?”

The Navy Secretary also described infrastructure being built for Submarine Rotational Force-West (SRF-W) in Western Australia as “critical” noting it would be “very important to our ability to project power in the Indo-Pacific and work with our allies”.

In Australia defence industry leaders have welcomed the Trump administration’s enthusiastic endorsement of AUKUS and its progress, despite many holding private concerns about the slow speed of preparations at Henderson.

“The mention of AUKUS support and impetus is positive news for Australia’s manufacturing and maintenance industries, which also talks to securing an advantage against future threats,” says Australian Industry and Defence Network CEO Mike Johnson.

Democrat Joe Courtney who represents a Connecticut Congressional District where Virginia-class submarines are built, and is chair of Washington’s bipartisan “AUKUS caucus”, also welcomed the President’s comments.

“After four months of uncertainty about continued US support for AUKUS, this morning’s meeting powerfully endorsed AUKUS and ensured that it will be an enduring success for a free and open Indo-Pacific,” he wrote online.