postured

Following last month's assassination attempt, Donald Trump briefly postured as a changed man who would strike a new tone and seek to unify the country.

“As announced in September 2023, the Department of Defense is postured to provide robust enabling support for the MSS, including planning assistance, information sharing, airlift, communications, and medical support,” Southern Command said.

Mr Austin told the committee in his opening statement that there has been a review of the chain of command process, saying the "system must be postured better" so this does not happen again.

“Guardians, along with the rest of the services and joint force, are currently postured to deter and, if required, defeat these potential threats,” the report said, without elaborating.

However, the bulk of its forces are postured to deter North Korea on the divided and heavily armed peninsula, and its troops are overwhelmingly conscripts, reducing their availability for deployment far from home.