Despite a growing consensus that most US allies and partners are hedging, Australia, Japan, Poland and Britain are all deepening their bonds with the US, while simultaneously building lateral bridges with one another. Yet the US’s core allies are not responding this way. Both Japan and Australia later reached similar understandings with Britain in 2023 and 2024 respectively. Moreover, the core allies are not abandoning Washington, even as they foster closer relationships with other US partners. While many US partners are hedging, the core allies are doing the opposite: working with Washington and increasingly with each other to keep the existing order standing.