New missile deployments, special forces training and greater industrial cooperation: The United States and the Philippines agreed to a flurry of measures Friday to step up military ties as Washington sought to reassure its oldest treaty ally in Asia of its “ironclad” defense commitment amid heightened tensions with China.
“Our partnership not only continues today, but we are doubling down on that partnership, and our ironclad alliance has never been stronger,” U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters Friday following talks with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and National Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. in Manila, his first international stop as part of an ongoing Asia-Pacific tour that will also take him to Japan.
Speaking alongside Teodoro, Hegseth said the allied nations agreed on the next steps to “re-establish” deterrence in the Indo-Pacific while accelerating bilateral and multilateral cooperation.
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