Pete Hegseth's lawyer said he "performed superbly" in his appearance before senators amid criticism after he appeared not to know what the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is.

Whatever is needed at the border will be provided,” Pete Hegseth, the new defense secretary, told reporters on Monday.

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.

Pete Hegseth grilled by senators over ‘very racist extremist tattoo’; What is it and how it's connected with Joe Biden ASEAN encourages political, economic, and cultural cooperation among its member nations. At present, it includes Brunei, Myanmar, the ...

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.

A Princeton and Harvard-educated former combat veteran, Hegseth went on to make a career at Fox News, where he hosted a weekend show. Trump tapped him as the defense secretary to lead an organization with nearly 2.1 million service members, about 780,000 civilians and a budget of $850 billion.

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.”

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

Vice President JD Vance delivered a tie breaking vote to confirm Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News host, as secretary of defense. Three Republicans joined the Democrats and independents in voting no, resulting in a 51-50 margin.