Editorial: Our US ambassador cannot be the butt of jokes

Politicians are not renowned for their self-awareness, so the odds are Kevin Rudd will back himself to stay in the job, writes the editor.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese may have walked out of the White House a winner, but he would be foolish not to question the suitability of Kevin Rudd as our US ambassador going forward.

On what was otherwise a very successful day for Mr Albanese and Australia, Mr Rudd felt the full force of President Donald Trump’s ire when the topic of his old tweets were raised.

The tweets in 2020 described Mr Trump as the “village idiot”, a “traitor to the West” and “the most destructive president in history”.

They well and truly came back to haunt Mr Rudd, and deservedly so.

The tweets were inappropriate then and they still are.

Mr Trump declared in response at the White House meeting: “I don’t like you either and I probably never will.”

The US President also said “I don’t know anything about” Mr Rudd, before asking Mr Albanese “where is he, is he still working for you?”

After Mr Albanese pointed him out to the most powerful leader in the world, Mr Rudd was forced to say he made the comments “before I took this position, Mr President”.

Mr Albanese is likely to leave Mr Rudd in the US until his tenure is up because he is a liability to him in Australia.

However, the former prime minister has now proven himself to be a massive liability there, too – if he wasn’t already.

Labor is trying to fob off the exchange as nothing more than a moment of levity.

But it threatened to overshadow Mr Albanese’s excellent work in executing what many other world leaders have failed to manage – a successful meeting with Mr Trump.

The Prime Minister walked away with a $13bn critical minerals deal and guarantees on the future of AUKUS.

While there was no movement on tariffs, no one really expected there to be.

Importantly, Mr Albanese left the White House with a seemingly much improved relationship with Mr Trump, silencing concerns about the state of the alliance.

Even the topic of Australia’s defence spending couldn’t provoke Mr Trump into criticising Mr Albanese and the government.

This is a man who has famously – and awkwardly – used press conferences with international leaders to blindside them with his grievances.

Mr Albanese walked out unscathed, perhaps despite Mr Rudd’s presence.

The federal opposition – unsurprisingly – led calls for Mr Rudd to be sacked yesterday, rightly pointing out that when the ambassador is the punchline of the joke their position is probably untenable.

But the former ambassador to Britain, Alexander Downer, hit the nail on the head when he declared that anyone with self-awareness would resign.

“If the British prime minister didn’t know who I was and said he didn’t like me and never will, I would think about resigning,” he said.

Politicians are not renowned for their self-awareness, so the odds are that Mr Rudd will back himself to stay in the job.

Which means Mr Albanese has a decision to make – and he must seriously consider moving Mr Rudd on for the sake of his relationship with Mr Trump and the US.

BRONCOS WON’T REST ON SUCCESS

Champions are wired differently than the rest of us. It is the in-built desire to not only do everything possible to climb the mountain or win the championship, but to immediately recalibrate that goal once you succeed.

American football superstar Tom Brady is a case in point. After each of his record seven Super Bowl wins, he did the same thing, returning to training while his teammates were still partying.

“I’ll celebrate for a night, then start thinking about the next one,” Brady once said.

Today’s news about the Brisbane Broncos locking in highly rated Melbourne Storm halfback Jonah Pezet for the 2027 season is a case in point.

While the Brisbane players not involved in the Kangaroos tour might be living it up around the world, the brains trust back at Red Hill are making moves that won’t even come to fruition for more than a year, when skipper Adam Reynolds will most likely retire.

But in footy, as in business, if you snooze, you lose.

Broncos coach Michael Maguire should be commended for putting in place a succession plan that will remove so much uncertainty from next season.

Madge could be forgiven for spending most of this month on holidays, and savouring the plaudits after an unforgettable 2025 season triumph.

But champions don’t think like that, and like Tom Brady, Madge has moved on to the next one.

Responsibility for election comment is taken by Chris Jones, corner of Mayne Rd & Campbell St, Bowen Hills, Qld 4006. Printed and published by NEWSQUEENSLAND (ACN 009 661 778). Contact details here