SIMI VALLEY, California — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Saturday launched a full-throated attack on post-Cold War U.S. foreign policy, castigating former presidents and generals by name while declaring the age of American “utopian idealism” over.

Hegseth, speaking at the annual Reagan Defense Forum, outlined a new military focus on the Western Hemisphere, demanded allies fend for themselves and took a more conciliatory approach to China’s armed forces.

His remarks underscored the new National Security Strategy released late Thursday and previewed the Pentagon’s own upcoming strategy, which will lay out the military’s global priorities.

“Out with idealistic utopianism,” he said. “In with hard-nosed realism.”

The Defense secretary’s speech revealed an administration moving toward a policy that recognizes zones of influence led by great powers — China in the Pacific, the U.S. in the Western Hemisphere and Europe broadly, although he made only a passing reference to Russia.

The U.S. should not be “distracted by democracy building, interventionism, undefined wars, regime change, climate change, woke moralizing and feckless nation-building,” Hegseth said. “We will instead put our nation’s practical, concrete interests first.”

The Pentagon chief also used the defense industry-focused forum to more forcefully outline the Trump administration’s strategic refocus closer to home. It comes amid a military campaign in the Caribbean that has sunk more than 20 small boats allegedly carrying drugs and killed around 80 people. The administration has said it is combating “narco-terrorists,” though some lawmakers and experts have decried it as illegal.

Hegseth also suggested the military would become more involved in patrolling the southern border with Mexico. “We’ll secure the border in part by organizing training and equipping units specifically for border defense missions, including operations in the land, maritime and air,” he said.

While defense strategies in recent years have focused on deterring China, Hegseth suggested the upcoming one would take a softer approach.

“President Trump and this administration seek a stable peace, fair trade and respectful relations with China,” he said. The U.S. will follow a policy of “respecting the historic military buildup [China is] undertaking,” he added, while the Pentagon “maintains a clear-eyed appreciation of how rapid, formidable and holistic their military buildup has been.”

Hegseth praised countries such as South Korea, Poland and Germany for increasing defense spending in recent years, citing President Donald Trump’s push to ensure countries pay more on their own defense.

“Allies are not children,” he said. “We can and should expect them to do their part.”

The Defense secretary also reiterated a point he emphasized in a November speech about “supercharging the U.S. defense industrial base.” This includes new investments in ships, drones and air defense systems such as the nascent Golden Dome project. They are part of the $1 trillion defense budget that includes a $150 billion boost from the megabill passed by Congress this year.

The Trump administration, in some respects, wants to have it both ways when it comes to foreign relations. The National Security Strategy criticizes European allies for not embracing far-right parties that espouse ethnic nationalism, and says Washington will support efforts aimed at “restoring Europe’s civilizational self-confidence and Western identity.” But Hegseth on Saturday also rejected U.S. interventions in other countries’ affairs.

The Trump administration will “rightly prioritize our homeland and hemisphere,” he said. “Threats persist in other regions, and our allies need to step up, and step up for real.”

Hegseth, in questions after the speech, defended a Sept. 2 second strike on a boat that killed survivors wounded after the first hit. The revelation, reported by The Washington Post, has led to a bipartisan outcry in Congress over whether the action amounted to a war crime.

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. Dan Caine, speaking after Hegseth, said it was his and Special Operations Command chief Gen. Frank Bradley’s idea to brief senior lawmakers on Capitol Hill this week about the specifics of the strikes.

Hegseth has refused to back down. He said Saturday he supported the second strike launched by the commander of the Special Operations Command.“If you bring drugs to this country in a boat, we will find you and we will sink you,” he said.

Caine, the top military officer, doubled down on Hegseth’s comments. “Over the last few years, we haven’t had a lot of American combat power in our own neighborhood,” he said. “I suspect that’s probably going to change.”

Jack Detsch contributed to this report.