A senator told Hegseth: "I suggest you do a little homework before you prepare for these types of negotiations."

Tammy Duckworth asked the nominee for factual details about the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), including its membership and the U.S.'s relationship with member countries. Hegseth responded that he was unable to name the exact members of ASEAN,

Last week's Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing for Senator Marco Rubio was very insightful, especially regarding comments related to US-Asean relations. Mr Rubio demonstrated knowledge about Asean and the need for flexibility in engaging with the countries in the region.

While Hegseth fumbled in responding to questions from Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who was born in Bangkok and injured in combat while serving in the U.S. military, regional leaders have expressed optimism about U.S. engagement under Trump’s leadership.

In a heated Senate confirmation hearing for Pete Hegseth, Sen. Tammy Duckworth grilled the proposed defense secretary over the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, asking him if he could name one member and how many countries were in the bloc.

Malaysia, this year's ASEAN chair, said Sunday ahead of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House t

In his inaugural address, the US president also discusses tariffs generally but does not specifically target Beijing

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, grilling President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for defense secretary over whether he had the “breadth and depth of knowledge” needed to lead international negotiations, asked Pete Hegseth if could name one member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations,

THE US dollar is having a soft day, as fears over the much-dreaded Chinese tariffs take a backseat for now, with US President Donald Trump ... “Assuming the Trump trade as the pre-dominant theme… we are cautious on Asean currencies that are more ...

DONALD Trump has been pretty busy since his inauguration as President of the United States for the second time. Read more at The Business Times.

The worry, of course, is that Donald Trump — who took his oath as the US’ 47th president last Tuesday — would increase tariffs on various countries and that (ostensibly) includes the Philippines. China,

Only a few days later, Hegseth was nominated by Donald Trump to serve as defense secretary, and he has since tried to backtrack on that statement. Presumably, Trump did not have a problem with his views when he announced the nomination, having been a fan of Hegseth’s for many years.