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

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.

Every one of Hegseth’s predecessors emphasized unity and a diverse military as key to national progress and defense.

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.

Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth, born in Bangkok to a Thai mother and an American father, posed the question to Pete Hegseth.

Pete Hegseth has vowed to bring his “warrior” ethos to the Pentagon. Democrats had assailed him as unfit for the job, and his confirmation came down to Vice President JD Vance serving as tiebreaker.

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

U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy announced Friday that he would vote to confirm Pete Hegseth to lead the U.S. Department of Defense.

PETE Hegseth - Donald Trump’s choice for defence secretary - was left red-faced at a Senate confirmation hearing when he could not answer basic questions regarding Asean, the South-east Asian grouping of 10 nations.

Pete Hegseth had trouble answering a question about ... ASEAN is made up of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

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.”

asked Pete Hegseth if could name one member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, describe what type of agreement the U.S. had with the countries and how many nations were in the bloc.