Anthony Albanese has used a congratulatory phone call to Donald Trump to impress upon the president-elect the importance of the US-Australian alliance to regional security, at the heart of which is the AUKUS security pact.

There is trepidation within government and security circles that the unpredictable Trump may revert to the isolationist approach he adopted when last in office, and questions about what level of influence Australia’s US ambassador Kevin Rudd will have, given he has been publicly disparaging of Trump in the past.