Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks to service members aboard the aircraft carrier USS George Washington at Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, Oct. 28, 2025. (Alex Wilson/Stars and Stripes)
YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth addressed approximately 6,000 U.S. and Japanese sailors Tuesday as a precursor to a speech by President Donald Trump aboard a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier.
The audience crowded into the cavernous hangar bay of the USS George Washington at Yokosuka, homeport of the U.S. 7th Fleet on Tokyo Bay.
“What President Trump is doing pretty simple, but it’s revolutionary,” he told sailors. “He’s reminding the country and our adversaries that we’re going to put America first.”
“America first” isn’t “America alone,” he said, while praising the U.S.-Japan alliance.
Hegseth, who spoke aboard the carrier for about 15 minutes, had arrived in Tokyo at noon and is scheduled to meet his Japanese counterpart, Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, on Wednesday.
Trump began speaking to the sailors around 4:15 p.m., hours after a meeting in central Tokyo with Japan’s first female prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, who took office on Oct. 21.
The two leaders signed several bilateral agreements outlining economic cooperation, including deals on rare earth minerals and natural gas.
Trump arrived in Tokyo on Monday after a stop in Malaysia, where he visited Kuala Lumpur for the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
He’s expected to head to South Korea on Wednesday to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
This report will be updated.