Trump comeback will put the heat of Australia’s ex-PM turned US Ambassador | Samantha Maiden
One ex-PM on a collision course with a great power would be enough of a worry, but Penny Wong has two to deal with, writes Samantha Maiden.
Opinion
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When Donald Trump sledged Australia’s ambassador Kevin Rudd as “nasty” and predicted he “won’t be there long” if he defeats Joe Biden in this year’s US election, critics were quick to pounce.
Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie suggested he had recklessly “trash-talked” a former US President.
“I think it will put the prime minister in a very, very difficult position because, you know, Rudd was his personal captain’s pick for that role, and even knowing that he’d trash-talked Trump on the way through,’’ she said.
Penny Wong has been dealing with plenty of former prime ministers dramas this week, including Paul Keating – who has labelled Australian security chiefs as “nutters” running a “goon show” – planning to meet with China’s foreign minister while he’s here.
The talks are likely to overshadow Wong’s own meeting and follow Mr Keating’s outbursts about her stewardship of the portfolio.
“Let me just make this point. Running around the Pacific Islands with a lei around your neck handing out money, which is what Penny does, is not foreign policy,” Mr Keating said of Wong.
“It’s a consular task. Foreign policy is what you do with the great powers.”
Asked if she would keep Rudd on if Donald Trump returned to the White House, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said what you might expect.
“The answer is yes,’’ she replied. “In relation to the former, what I would say is this, even (Liberal leader) Mr Dutton has expressed confidence in Mr Rudd,’’ she said.
“Mr Rudd is a very effective ambassador. He’s recognised as doing across this parliament, as doing an excellent job in advancing Australia’s interests in the United States.”
She can hardly say otherwise.
In a moment of light comedy, the Department of Foreign Affairs put out a bland statement suggesting that Mr Rudd was doing a “good job”, which presumably was what the Rudd family’s golden retriever Abby used to get told at the Lodge.
Even though Mr Trump and Mr Rudd are equal opportunity sledge artists, there’s no doubt that it could be getting hot for Kevin in Washington DC if the object of his invective returns to the White House.
If the proverbial hits the fan, Anthony Albanese will be standing in front of it.
The former US President has suggested he would refuse to work with Rudd if he was re-elected after hearing Mr Rudd had previously described Mr Trump as “nuts” and “the most destructive president in history”.
In an interview to air on Sky News Australia, conservative British politician Nigel Farage asked Mr Trump if he knew that Australia’s ambassador to the US had said “the most horrible things” about him.
“He won’t be there long if that’s the case,” the former president said.
“I don’t know much about him. I heard he was a little bit nasty. I hear he’s not the brightest bulb, but I don’t know much about him. If he’s at all hostile, he will not be there long.”
Just three years ago Kevin Rudd was an international dial-a-quote on Donald Trump.
“The most destructive president in history,” Mr Rudd wrote on X, formerly Twitter, in June 2020.
“He drags America and democracy through the mud. He thrives on fomenting, not healing, division.
“He abuses Christianity, church and bible to justify violence.’”
The urge to purge your inner thoughts and feelings once you leave office must be contagious.
A case in point: Malcolm Turnbull has labelled Donald Trump a “tyrant” and suggested he was no longer committed to democracy “as we know it”.
“Donald Trump does not believe the law applies to him,” Mr Turnbull said.
“Trump is a bully, he encourages people to suck up to him,” he said
Rudd’s outbursts have been registered loud and clear, according to Steve Bannon, who served as a chief White House strategist under the Trump administration.
Speaking to Sky News host Sharri Markson on Wednesday, Mr Bannon warned Mr Rudd’s comments had been noted.
“Ambassador Rudd should know we got his number,” Mr Bannon told Markson.
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