JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii – Defense Secretary Jim Mattis announced Wednesday that he is renaming U.S. Pacific Command to U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, in recognition of the “increasing connectivity” between the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
WASHINGTON – President Trump is considering tapping an admiral as the U.S. ambassador to Australia, according to a report.
A source with direct knowledge of these matters tells Breitbart News that the senior staff at the White House, including National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, did not brief President Donald Trump on the collision the Navy destroyer USS John McCain had with an oil tanker near Singapore before he originally seemingly dismissed the incident saying, “that’s too bad.”
On Friday, the U.S. Pacific Command announced that one of its patrol aircraft had a “close encounter” with a Chinese plane over the South China Sea. The Pentagon initially classified the encounter as “unsafe” but later walked this judgment back.
The chief officers of the Philippine military and U.S. Pacific Command said military ties between the two countries remained “robust” on Tuesday, despite threats from Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to reduce cooperation with America in favor of stronger relationships with China and Russia.
The U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) chief and the assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs expressed concern about China’s declining influence over volatile and nuclear-armed North Korea.
