PM reveals he has tried to call Donald Trump but he’s not picking up
Anthony Albanese has slammed US President Donald Trump’s big call on tariffs as “unjustified” and an act of “self-harm”.
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US President Donald Trump has been refusing Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s request for a follow up phone call over the decision to slap trade tariffs on Australia.
The Prime Minister first spoke to Mr Trump about the tariff threat in February when he revealed he had a “very constructive” phone call with the US President, with Mr Trump agreeing to consider an exemption to tariffs.
But asked why he had not had another call with Mr Trump after confirmation there would be no tariff reprieve, Mr Albanese revealed it was not for want of trying.
News of the Prime Minister’s fight to secure a second phone call was first revealed by Sky News’ Sharri Markson on March 4.
“We have mobilised everything at our disposal, including through our embassy in the United States, but also through all channels and we will continue to do so,” Mr Albanese said today.
Asked if he had tried to organise a second call with Mr Trump on tariffs, Mr Albanese revealed he had asked to do so.
“Look, we will continue to engage in all vehicles we have continued to put in a request for another discussion with President Trump,” he said.
“I note that these decisions have been made and have varied at times.”
Mr Albanese said he had written to Mr Trump to state Australia’s case.
“We have engaged, including through writing and senior levels of the government,” Mr Albanese said.
“People would be aware, the Treasurer, the Trade Minister, the Foreign Minister have all visited and have all engaged.”
But he stressed that Australia was getting the same deal as everyone else.
“No country has been exempted, not France, not the United Kingdom,” he said.
Australia’s ambassador Kevin Rudd was informed of the final decision around 6am Australian time. Sky News reported today that the bad news was conveyed in a face-to-face meeting with the Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and the Jamieson Greer as United States Trade Representative in a vote of 56-43.
‘Self harm’: Albo’s huge call
Earlier Mr Albanese slammed US President Donald Trump’s big call on tariffs as “unjustified” and an act of “self-harm” as he revealed he would not engage in a game of tit-for-tat trade action.
Speaking in Sydney this morning, the Prime Minister said the government will continue to overturn the decision
“Such a decision by the Trump Administration is entirely unjustified,’’ Mr Albanese said.
“This is against the spirit of our two nations’ enduring friendship and fundamentally at odds with the benefit of our economic partnership that has been delivered over more than 70 years.
“Australia has no tariffs on goods from the United States and, of course, we have an agreement with the United States.
“Tariffs and escalating trade tensions are a form of economic self-harm and a recipe for slower growth and higher inflation.
“They are paid by the consumers. This is why Australia will not be imposing reciprocal tariffs on the United States. Such a course of action would only push up prices.”
Mr Albanese defended the conduct of US ambassador Kevin Rudd.
“Australia has a close relationship with the United States,’’ he said.
“Friends need to act in a way that reinforces, to our respective populations, the fact that we are friends. This is not a friendly act. But it is imposed on every country, that is important.
‘Bad decision’
Australia has slammed US President Donald Trump for the “bad decision” to slap 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium warning it will damage the US-Australian relationship.
After vowing to consider an exemption just a month and describing the Prime Minister as a “fine man”, the Trump administration confirmed early on Wednesday Australian time that there will be no special deals.
Despite the warning of the trade impost and a pessimistic view of Australia’s chances of a reprieve, the Albanese Government seemed to be somewhat blindsided by the decision as talks continued overnight for a better outcome.
“He considered it, and considered it. There will be no exemptions,” White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to reporters.
Ms Leavitt said the reason for the refusal to exempt Australia was “American-first steel”.
“And if they want to be exempted, they should consider moving steel manufacturing here,” she added.
Australia slams ‘bad decision’
Health Minister Mark Butler said Australia will “continue to press the case” for an exemption as the Prime Minister prepares to respond to the blow.
“This is a disappointing decision,” Mr Butler said.
“It’s a bad economic decision. It’s bad for our relationship.
“It’s bad for the US, ultimately, because we think that the exports we send to them – which are significantly less than the exports they send to us – are good for the US economy. They’re good for US industry.
“They’re particularly good for defence, which is an important area of co-operation. We think this is a bad decision that’s disappointing, and we’ll continue to press the case for it to change.”
The Albanese Government insists it has been working hard at all levels to secure an exemption.
“We remain in discussion with the United States Administration, and will have more to say,” a spokesperson said.
Mr Butler said the talks to change the US President’s mind were ongoing.
“We knew this was going to be a tough fight,” Mr Butler told ABC TV.
“The second Trump administration seems much more determined on this front than perhaps the first administration.
“Even back then, when the Turnbull government was in office here in Australia, it took nine months to gain the exemption that they ultimately did. So we’ve been working very hard on this.”
Coalition attacks PM
Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley blamed Mr Albanese for the outcome insisting he should have had a face-to-face meeting with Mr Trump to argue for exemptions.
“If indeed it is confirmed that Australia doesn’t get a carve-out from steel and aluminium tariffs, it’s bad news for Australian jobs, Australian industry,” she told Sky News.
“All of the other leaders of the Quad and AUKUS, Japan, India, the UK, travelled to the US and they had face-to-face meetings and they did what they needed to do. They advocated fiercely in their country’s interests. Where has this Prime Minister been?”
Malcolm Turnbull slams Donald Trump
Overnight, former PM Malcolm Turnbull declared he was pessimistic about our chances and delivered both barrels to the US president again, after a war of words first erupted on Monday.
In a new escalation of the political brawl, Mr Turnbull accused the US President of siding with Russian President Vladimir Putin against Ukraine.
“He has, effectively, changed sides in the war between Russia and Ukraine, cutting off military aid to, and intelligence sharing with, Ukraine. His formula for peacemaking is kneecapping Ukraine to the point that it has to accept Putin’s peace,” he said.
“A genuinely strong leader would use his power to compel the aggressor, Russia, to yield. Instead, he is punching down on the weaker party.”
Writing in the Nine newspapers, Mr Turnbull said that “sucking up” to the US President was not the answer.
“We need to have an honest conversation about this – the gaslighting has to stop,” he said.
Mr Turnbull said the crisis among the Western alliance was illustrated by the former French president Francois Hollande, who said today: “While the American people may still be our friends, the Trump administration is no longer our ally.”
“I certainly wouldn’t go that far, but ominously, former Australian Defence Force chief Admiral Chris Barrie has said this is the harshest wake-up call since the Fall of Singapore. We sleep through it at our peril,” he said.
Ex-PM’s punctuation sledge
The former prime minister also attacked the US President over his use of apostrophes, noting that Mr Trump had referred to “Australian’s (sic)” in his social media musings with incorrect punctuation.
“Punctuation aside, his ‘truth’ said more about his thin-skinned, volatile temperament than it did about me,” Mr Turnbull said.
“Trump is a bully – that is like saying the Pope’s a Catholic.”
Mr Turnbull then provided a short tour of his interactions with the US President as he recalled them.
“I was so ‘weak and ineffectual’ that I stood my ground in the face of his fury, and finally persuaded him to honour a refugee deal I had done with President Obama. And then I was so ‘weak and ineffectual’ that I managed to persuade him to give Australia an exemption from steel and aluminium tariffs in 2018,” he said.
“At the time, I was told not to stand up to him. I was told to flatter him, suck up to him, offer him things. I didn’t do that, and I achieved very good outcomes for Australia.
“Trump is a bully – that is like saying the Pope’s a Catholic – and if you suck up to him, you will just get more bullying.
“The problem with compromising free speech like this is that it is a slippery slope. Are we all to bite our tongues constantly lest we incur the wrath of the President? After all, he can put tariffs up and down on a whim, and has done so several times in the last few weeks. What other mischief might he inflict on us if we dare to say what we think?
“His trade war, I said, risked recession. Wall Street agrees. And I pointed out that his chaotic style of government, bullying friends and allies – threatening to annex Canada and seize Greenland, not to speak of abandoning Ukraine – made the United States look like a very unreliable ally.
“This would be exploited by China, I said, which this time round would seek to be as unlike Trump as possible. China would be consistent where Trump was erratic, respectful where he was abusive. This differentiation would, I said, cause many countries which were not closely aligned to the US to hedge towards China.”
Trump slams Turnbull as ‘weak, ineffective’
Earlier on Monday, Mr Trump slammed Mr Turnbull on social media after the former Australian prime minister warned the United States’ poor treatment of its allies was providing “an opportunity” for Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“Malcolm Turnbull, the former prime minister of Australia who was always leading that wonderful country from ‘behind’, never understood what was going on in China, nor did he have the capacity to do so,” Mr Trump wrote in a post to his own social media platform Truth Social on Sunday evening (Monday AEDT).
The Trump social media post appears to be in retaliation for Mr Turnbull’s appearance in an interview on Bloomberg television, where he argued the United States was an increasingly unreliable ally.
Mr Turnbull said if Mr Trump triggered a global wave of protectionism, it would clearly be “bad for business”.
“Trump seems to have a view that America can prosper at the expense of everybody else,” Mr Turnbull told Bloomberg TV.
“That’s not going to work, that’s what they tried at the time of the Great Depression.
“You’ve had tariffs going on, going off, going back on again, and then, you know, this uncertainty is, you know, better than anyone at Bloomberg is hitting the markets too.
“It’s bad for business.”
Originally published as PM reveals he has tried to call Donald Trump but he’s not picking up
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