SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters) – Senior United States officials said on Monday (June 5) the US, under President Donald Trump was committed to the region, reassuring nervous global partners after pulling out of the global climate pact.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, speaking in Sydney after meetings between Australian and US foreign and defense ministers, said the Trump administration should be judged for its actions and not words.
Global leaders have said there was growing mistrust of the Trump administration, especially considering the US withdrawal from both the Trans-Pacific Partnership on trade and the Paris climate accord.
Trump’s “America First” rhetoric and expectations that he would concentrate on a domestic agenda has stoked fears of a retreat from a traditional US security role that has underpinned the region for decades.
Tillerson and US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis are making their first trip to Australia since Trump took office in January.
