"This is basic, 101 stuff for someone who wants to be secretary of defense, and he couldn't answer any of them."

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, was questioned about ASEAN during a heated Senate confirmation and struggled with his response.

During his confirmation hearing, Trump’s Defense Secretary nominee couldn’t name a single member of the Southeast Asian bloc.

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,

Even as she disagreed politically with Esper, Duckworth says, “He was competent and he could do his job, and he could go to Singapore, to [the Asian Defense Summit], the Shangri-La Dialogue ...

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.

President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Defence Secretary, Pete Hegseth, admitted to having limited knowledge about

SINGAPORE: United States President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for the role of defence secretary Pete Hegseth drew criticism on Tuesday (Jan 14) for his apparent lack of knowledge about

Republicans appear poised to confirm Trump’s controversial nominee to lead the government’s largest and most complex agency

Tammy Duckworth, grilling President-elect Donald ... Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. An 11th country, East Timor, is set to join soon. Established in 1967, its goal ...

Hegseth responded at the heated Senate confirmation hearing that he couldn’t tell Duckworth the exact number of ASEAN nations, but that “I know we have allies in South Korea and Japan in AUKUS (a pact between Australia, the United Kingdom and the U.S.) with Australia.”

President Trump's priorities of immigration enforcement and promoting U.S. interests in the Panama Canal lead the political agenda in Washington.