America First Pentagon agenda slammed by Hillary Clinton

I think most people were surprised when Pete Hegseth was chosen as Trump’s Secretary of Defense.

He did not have the rank or experience justifying such a position, but he clearly was willing to put Trump’s agenda in place.

He has since drawn criticism from both sides of the aisle, but nothing like the criticism he just took from Hillary Clinton.

Defense Policies

I have always loved the America First agenda, but I also realize that we cannot kick our allies to the curb, as we will clearly need to lean on them in the case of a conflict.

Some now feel that Hegseth’s posture on China is not strong enough, as well as in other theaters, lessening the influence of the United States in these theaters.

Zack Cooper, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., explained, "I do think we're likely to see a change in force posture on the peninsula. I think the administration has been starting to signal that pretty openly.”

He continued, "I think the message from the Trump administration is that all that matters is what South Korea does on China. And the reality is that U.S.-South Korea interests go far beyond what South Korea does on China."

Weakening Our Position

Hillary Clinton served as Barack Obama’s secretary of state for a spell, and I think most of us would agree that she was a complete and utter disaster.

Oddly enough, during the 2016 election, when Trump discussed China, the Democrats, including Clinton, laughed at him, saying that China was not our main concern, but she has since flipped.

On Hegseth’s policies, she stated, stated, "There seems to be a group within the Pentagon who are advocating for these spheres of influence … I think that’s a disaster.

“And I think it weakens us vis-à-vis our principal problem, which is… the Chinese Communist Party.”

Pompeo Agrees

I loved Mike Pompeo as secretary of state when Trump was in office during his first term, but it does appear as though Pompeo and Trump are now in different places on many issues.

To that point, Pompeo agreed with Hillary on this one. He stated, "I agree with almost everything Secretary Clinton said there. I want American values to dominate the world for the next 250 years … I want to influence every sphere of influence.

"We shouldn’t use the word competition and the Chinese Communist Party in the same sentence… The Chinese Communist Party wants to cut our heads off. They killed 10 million people and didn’t lose a moment’s sleep when a virus was foisted around the world."

I would not read that Pompeo has flipped on conservatives, but I read this as a possible power move by Pompeo. I think he is waiting in the wings just in case Trump’s administration crashes, and he can swoop in to challenge Vance for the GOP presidential nomination in 2028.