Pete Hegseth has banned Pentagon officials from speaking at a security conference because it promotes “evil globalism”.

Senior figures in the US defence department were set to speak at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado this week, following a tradition under both Democrat and Republican administrations.

However, Mr Hegseth, the US defence secretary, has blocked his department from taking part in the four-day event, which is hosted by the Aspen Institute think tank.

Kingsley Wilson, a Pentagon spokeswoman, told Just the News that Mr Hegseth’s office believes it “promotes the evil of globalism, disdain for our great country, and hatred for the president of the United States”.

The department “has no interest in legitimising an organisation that has invited former officials who have been the architects of chaos abroad and failure at home”, she continued.

“They are antithetical to the America First values of this administration.”

Figures still scheduled to appear

John Phelan, the Navy secretary, Emil Michael, the defence undersecretary for research and engineering, and Doug Beck, director of the department’s defence innovation unit, were among several senior Pentagon officials due to speak this week, according to Politico.

Ms Wilson did not clarify her comments and the Pentagon declined to provide further details.

However, attendees tend to come from a more traditional foreign policy perspective than Mr Trump’s “America First” wing of the Republican Party, which has a strong isolationist streak and is deeply critical of former administrations.

Those expected to speak at the conference this week include Condoleezza Rice, George W Bush’s secretary of state, David Petraeus, Barack Obama’s former CIA director, and Mark Esper, defence secretary in Donald Trump’s first administration.