Ex-U.S. officials voice concerns about Trump gov't 'vacating' deterrence assets from Indo-Pacific amid Iran war

▲ This photo shows a launch vehicle of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system seen at a U.S. military base in Seongju, some 235 kilometers south of Seoul, on March 5, 2026. (Yonhap)

▲ This photo, released by EPA, shows USS George Washington (CVN-73) in Busan, South Korea on July 11, 2014. (Yonhap)

▲ This file photo, released by the Associated Press, shows Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, with President Donald Trump, speaking to members of the military aboard USS George Washington in Yokosuka, on Oct. 28, 2025. (Yonhap)

ex-US official-Iran war

Ex-U.S. officials voice concerns about Trump gov't 'vacating' deterrence assets from Indo-Pacific amid Iran war

By Song Sang-ho

WASHINGTON, March 16 (Yonhap) -- Former senior U.S. officials expressed concerns Monday that U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has "vacated" some of America's key military deterrence assets in the Indo-Pacific amid the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran despite growing Chinese threats in what it calls a "priority" theater.

Their remarks came amid reports that Washington has moved parts of its THAAD missile defense system in South Korea toward the Middle East, and is dispatching over 2,000 U.S. Marines of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) in Japan to the volatile region, while there is no fully operational U.S. aircraft carrier in the Indo-Pacific.

"A very large component of the American military capability that is there to deter in the Indo-Pacific has been vacated," one former U.S. official said in a meeting with reporters.

"Some of the Marines have left ... and some of the capabilities that have been withdrawn from Korea after painstakingly putting them in there. So deterrence has been shifted at a time that China is launching an unprecedented number of sorties around Taiwan," he added.

He was apparently referring to the challenging process of installing a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea's southern county of Seongju in 2017, which followed intense diplomatic friction with China and protests from local residents.

He pointed out that the recent shift of U.S. military assets away from the Indo-Pacific is "surprising."

"Even during the worst periods of preoccupation, we didn't vacate in the way that we are doing now," he said.

Homeported in Yokosuka, Japan, USS George Washington (CVN-73) is the forward-deployed carrier in Japan, but it is currently undergoing maintenance.

Another former U.S. official said that the departure of the 31st MEU is of particular concern, noting that it raises the prospect of "boots on the ground in Iran."

"That's the U.S. military's rapid reaction force -- the 911 force if you will -- available to respond to crises in the region," he said.

The reported deployment of Marines and other assets to the Middle East came after the White House and the Pentagon released the National Security Strategy and the National Defense Strategy in December and January, respectively.

The documents underscored the Trump administration's focus on defending the U.S. homeland and the Western Hemisphere, and deterring Chinese threats. But recent movements of military assets out of the Indo-Pacific raised questions about whether the U.S. could focus on its strategic priorities away from the Middle East.

"It's also the case that friends like Japan took solace from statements in those documents about how the Middle East was no longer going to consume American attention, that we are going to shift our focus elsewhere to where American interests really lie," he said.

"And this raises the prospect that once again, the U.S. will be distracted and bogged down in the Middle East at a time when the deterrence problem in East Asia has never been greater."

The first former official underscored that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's upcoming visit to the White House this week came at a "fraught" moment, as the U.S. conducts war against Iran, with Trump calling on Japan, South Korea and other countries to send ships to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial oil shipping route.

He cautioned against "underestimating" pressure that Trump may put on Takaichi, stressing the importance of the Japanese leader having the "political dexterity" to manage Trump in a "difficult" time.

"I don't think I've ever seen a meeting between two leaders, between the U.S. and Japan, that carried these stakes. I don't remember a period like this ... economic, political, strategic and military peril ... all wrapped into one without sufficient preparation," he said.

He said he does not expect a "Zelenskyy" moment during the upcoming meeting between Trump and Takaichi, referring to the public confrontation between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Oval Office in February last year.

Still, he anticipated that the Japanese leader will be under pressure to support Trump.

(END)

(C) Yonhap News Agency. All Rights Reserved