Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Indonesian Minister of Defense Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin bolstered an agreement to strengthen control over the Strait of Malacca. The Strait of Malacca runs between the Indonesian island of Sumatra and Malaysia and Singapore.
“The leaders reaffirmed the vital and growing defense relationship and discussed a range of shared goals, including increasing special forces training and professional military education,” a press release explains. “The two leaders committed to expanding the scope and complexity of bilateral and multilateral exercises, such as SUPER GARUDA SHIELD, to strengthen collective capabilities and promote Peace through Strength.”
According to the Major Defense Cooperation Partnership (MDCP), the U.S. and Indonesia will “explore mutually agreed cutting-edge initiatives, including co-developing sophisticated asymmetric capabilities pioneering next-generation defense technologies in the maritime, subsurface, and autonomous systems domains, and cooperating on maintenance, repair, and overhaul support to improve operational readiness.”
Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration indicates that about 23.2 million barrels of oil passed through the Strait of Malacca per day in the first half of 2025. The Strait of Hormuz had 20.9 million barrels of oil pass through it during the same period.
Last year, President Trump announced that the United States reached a “full access” trade deal with Indonesia. He told reporters that the U.S. “made a deal with Indonesia.”
“I spoke to their really great president…we have full access to Indonesia, everything. As you know, Indonesia is very strong on copper, but we have full access to everything, we will pay no tariffs,” he said.
