On commercial diplomacy, the United States is shifting assistance toward private-sector-led growth, including efforts with Australia, Japan, New Zealand and Taiwan to connect every Pacific Islands Forum country to a trusted undersea cable network. A second Pacific Investment Summit is scheduled to be hosted in early 2027.

Failures involving agentic AI systems, he said, could disrupt essential services, fracture communications, destabilise critical infrastructure and undermine democratic institutions. Entire populations could lose access to clean water, heating and financial services.