But while the fallout from the Iran war has exacerbated Trump’s irritation with Europe and accelerated some US military moves away from the region, it has not been to the immediate benefit of the US presence in the Pacific.
In fact, Washington has also pulled resources from there. Carrier forces were diverted from the Pacific to the Gulf, including the USS Abraham Lincoln and later the Japan-based USS George Washington.
The war is widely assessed to have left critical stocks of American ammunition badly depleted. The US fired about a third of its 3,000-strong stockpile of Tomahawk attack missiles, according to the Washington DC-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
Its air defence munitions were burned up at an even higher rate, with nearly 1,500 Patriot interceptors – used to shoot down aircraft and cruise and ballistic missiles – fired out of a stockpile of around 2,300, according to the CSIS.
White House Principle Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said America’s “military might” was “stronger than it’s ever been”.
“The United States Military has more than enough munitions, ammo, and stockpiles to serve all of the Commander-in-Chief’s strategic goals and beyond,” she said.
Meanwhile Ezra Cohen, the former Trump defence official who is now a fellow at the Hudson Institute, described the president as having degraded Iran’s conventional military threat.
Iran’s proxy groups are weaker than ever, he said, and in many places they have been completely obliterated, meaning “the president now has additional options and forces in the region to strike other Iranian targets, including nuclear targets, at will”.
The strikes might yet take place again. Thousands of troops, including the 82nd Airborne Division, were sent to the Middle East more than six months ago for a deployment that is now stretching into 2027 with no obvious end in sight.
Pictures last week of the USS Abraham Lincoln docking in Thailand with a rusting hull after a gruelling nine months at sea in the Gulf were pounced on by Iran. The regime tried to portray it as a symbol of America’s spent efforts.
Hegseth, meanwhile, forcefully rejected claims of abysmal conditions on board. But the narrative war reflected the challenge for Trump and Hegseth as they fight to transform the Pentagon while waging a costly, protracted war.
With additional reporting by Cai Pigliucci
