Kevin Rudd back-pedals on Donald Trump attacks as he braces for his political comeback

Australia’s US ambassador Kevin Rudd has back-pedalled on his attacks on Donald Trump and revealed how he is preparing for the former president’s potential return to the White House.

Tom Minear in Washington DCUS Correspondent

2 min read

January 28, 2024 - 5:00AM

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EXCLUSIVE

Kevin Rudd has back-pedalled from his strident attacks on Donald Trump, suggesting claims about the damage caused by the former president have been exaggerated as he braces for his potential return to the White House.

In an exclusive interview, Australia’s ambassador to the US outlined his high-level talks with key advisers to Mr Trump, who is all but certain to claim the Republican nomination for an election rematch against President Joe Biden.

The former prime minister said he was “well equipped” to deal with whoever prevailed in November, revealing that Republican friends he had known for decades were preparing to work in a new Trump administration.

Kevin Rudd has back-pedalled on his criticism of Donald Trump. Picture: Noah Willman

But Dr Rudd sounded the alarm about the risk of Mr Trump cutting off military aid to Ukraine, warning it would have “a material effect on the battle space” and that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping “would be looking very closely” at any US move to walk away from bankrolling the fight against Russia’s illegal invasion.

Prior to taking up the top diplomatic post last March, Dr Rudd had blasted Mr Trump as “nuts”, “the most destructive president in history” and a “traitor to the West”.

Kevin Rudd once labelled Trump as “nuts” and “the most destructive president in history”. Picture: AFP

But with polls giving the former president a genuine chance to defeat Mr Biden, Australia’s US ambassador suggested at last month’s Davos talkfest that there was “some danger of overstating the degree of damage” Mr Trump caused on the world stage in his first term.

Dr Rudd, in an interview in Washington DC, pointed to key trade and defence deals that were preserved by the former president “despite all of the wind and storm”.

“There are going to be disagreements – that’s just life,” he said.

“That’s the normal business of diplomacy. We usually just conduct them privately.”

The ambassador said he was willing to meet Mr Trump if that was requested before the election, but that he had not sought such talks himself, saying: “The last thing you want to do as a candidate is waste your time with a bunch of well-meaning foreign diplomats.”

Donald Trump won the key New Hampshire primary Tuesday, moving him ever closer to locking in the Republican presidential nomination and securing an extraordinary White House rematch with Joe Biden. Picture: AFP

Ambassador of Australia to the United States Kevin Rudd at his residence in Washington DC. Picture: Noah Willman

Instead, Dr Rudd has engaged with his long-term friends including Mr Trump’s trade representative Robert Lighthizer and national security adviser Robert O’Brien – both of whom have been mooted to take senior roles if Mr Trump returns to power.

“These are fairly normal relationships and there’s a broader set of Republican relationships … which I have accumulated over the decades, really, including a lot of people who have indicated to me privately that they’d go back to work in a Trump administration,” he said.

“In terms of the ability of the Australian government to manage the relationship with whoever wins the next election, Republican or Democrat, we are well equipped for that task.”

Ambassador of Australia to the United States Kevin Rudd in Washington DC.

The former prime minister said his return to the public service had been “deeply satisfying”, especially securing laws to deliver the AUKUS defence pact and Australia’s purchase of nuclear submarines from the US, which he said was “never a lay down misère”.

Dr Rudd acknowledged the sale was “an American discretionary interest”, with the president at the time of the transfer in the 2030s having to affirm that it would not harm US military capabilities, but he said AUKUS had bolstered the pace of submarine production that had been “frankly problematic for a long time”.