Asia | Submarine warfare

Could Trump can AUKUS?

Australia is waiting nervously for the president’s decision

A Sailor assigned to the Virginia-class fast-attack submarine USS Hawaii stands watch while the ship.
Photograph: Alamy
|4 min read

Could Donald Trump soon upend America’s alliance with Australia? Allies in the Pacific have mostly avoided the pressure directed by Mr Trump at America’s friends across the Atlantic. That now seems set to change. Mr Trump’s administration is demanding sharp increases in annual defence spending from Australia, from nearly 2% to 3.5% of GDP, and could soon insist on new commitments to fight alongside America.

Explore more

This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Under review ”

From the June 21st 2025 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

How to ease pollution, gridlock and honking on India’s roads

The country’s elites won’t like it

Protestors rally in front of Vicory Monument in Bangkok demanding the resignation of the Thai prime minister

Is Thailand heading for another coup?

The generals would be mad to try


A Death Cap mushroom

Australia’s mushroom murderess is found guilty

The trial, with a plot stranger than detective fiction, has gripped the country


The Economist is hiring a Seoul-based researcher/reporter

We’re looking for a fluent speaker of Korean and English

Central Asia still has a complex relationship with Russia

But countries know their neighbour is a crucial partner

Welcome to North Korea’s Benidorm

The hermit kingdom’s new resort is for its own enjoyment, not foreigners’