News that the US Department of Defence has launched an AUKUS review has Canberra’s defence circles in overdrive, with familiar critics already proclaiming the pact is “sinking”. Yet this outbreak of anxiety poses a bigger danger than the review itself. Washington’s routine stocktake changes nothing fundamental: the risks are unchanged and the safeguards Australia has put in place remain fit for purpose.

Donald Trump has re-litigated America’s relationship with Europe, but he has undermined the Australian-US alliance.Credit: Jamie Brown

Although the Pentagon has yet to confirm the review, reputable reporting – and Canberra’s evident lack of surprise – makes its existence clear. Commentators have blamed everything from tariff spats to Australia’s sanctions on Israeli ministers and Washington’s call for higher defence spending. Far likelier, the new Trump administration has folded AUKUS into its accelerated National Defence Strategy rewrite, scheduled for release in August – the first since the partnership’s AUKUS “optimal pathway” was outlined in 2023. Notably, the US Under Secretary of Defence for Policy, Elbridge Colby, is steering both the AUKUS review and the National Defence Strategy rewrite.

Australia’s Defence Minister, Richard Marles, has indicated publicly that he has known of it for........

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