Scott Morrison says Donald Trump deserves respect from Australia if he’s President again

Former PM Scott Morrison has opened up about Donald Trump’s critics and how Australia should treat the billionaire if he is re-elected as US President.

EXCLUSIVE

Donald Trump deserves Australia’s respect if he returns to power, former prime minister Scott Morrison said as he dismissed the “hyperventilation” of the ex-president’s critics.

Mr Morrison – who worked with Mr Trump and President Joe Biden – said both leaders had a “deep commitment” to the US-Australia alliance that would endure regardless of the result of November’s extraordinary election rematch.

And he praised Kevin Rudd for his efforts to engage with Mr Trump’s allies as Australia’s ambassador to the US, amid polls showing the former president is on track for re-election.

Mr Morrison avoided predicting the election result, as he acknowledged the polls “say what they say”, but he declared: “Democracy at the end of the day decides.”

“The only people whose views matter on that are Americans themselves,” he said.

“There’ll be a triumph of democracy … Whoever is elected should have the respect that they’re entitled to, not just here in the United States, but from partners and allies.”

Scott Morrison criticised the “hyperventilation” of Donald Trump’s critics. The pair are pictured here together in September of 2019. Picture: AAP

He criticised the “hyperventilation” of Mr Trump’s critics given Australia’s alliance with the US worked well under both he and Mr Biden, even though it would be “hard to think of two presidents that were more different”.

“I see it back in Australia, often from people who don’t know what they’re talking about, who don’t really know and largely just parrot the commentary of others,” Mr Morrison said.

“All I know is in both the candidates, the incumbent and President Trump, there is a deep commitment to the alliance and that matters to us.”

The former prime minister – who this week met Mr Trump amid his criminal hush money trial and launched his book with Dr Rudd – refused to weigh in on the Republican’s broadside on the “nasty” ambassador who he warned “won’t be there long”.

“We all say things – we can’t pretend we didn’t,” Mr Morrison said.

“It comes down to what gets done, and I’ve been encouraged and pleased to see the commitment to making AUKUS work.”

US President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, pictured together in September 2019. Picture: AFP

He said Dr Rudd had done “a great job” lobbying for crucial laws to enact the pact, and praised his “very industrious” efforts to build relationships with potential figures in a second Trump administration.

“He’s got a clear mission and project and I think he’s applying himself … I’d expect nothing less,” Mr Morrison said.

After his meeting with Mr Trump, he said the ex-president offered a “warm reception” to his pitch on the importance of AUKUS, including the sale of US nuclear submarines to Australia.

Mr Morrison said he was in regular contact with Defence Minister Richard Marles as continued to lobby for the pact’s success in his post-parliamentary career.

“I feel a very strong sense of proprietorship when it comes to AUKUS, understandably, and I’ve been doing this now ever since the election defeat,” he said.

“It is a collective effort, it’s a national effort … I don’t buy into the domestic politics of it. I’ve got my own views about that but I do that at the ballot box now.”

SCOMO’S DEFENCE OF TRUMP AS TRIAL CONTINUES

Donald Trump has issued a strong signal of support for the AUKUS pact in a meeting with former prime minister Scott Morrison amid the ex-president’s criminal trial in New York.

Uncertainty about the Republican’s stance on AUKUS – as he campaigns to return to the White House in this year’s US election – has been a major cause for concern in Canberra, Washington DC and London.

But Mr Morrison, the architect of the three-way deal between the US, the UK and Australia, said it received a “warm reception” during their meeting at Trump Tower in Manhattan.

“It’s a good deal – and he knows what a good deal is,” he said in an interview.

The former prime minister said he used the talks to put AUKUS “in its context” for Mr Trump as “part of the credible deterrent to deal with Chinese assertions in the region”.

Was pleased to meet with former President Donald Trump on Tuesday night at his private residence in NY. It was nice to catch up again, especially given the pile on he is currently dealing with in the US. Was also a good opportunity to discuss AUKUS, which received a warm… pic.twitter.com/3FUTrwJVnC

— Scott Morrison (@ScoMo30) May 15, 2024

“It is part of a much bigger picture where I know he has had long-term interest and concern. It was certainly something, the issues in the Indo-Pacific, that he and I talked about quite a lot when we were both in office,” he said.

“On that, we’re all very aligned. So there’s nothing there which is standing out as a massive impediment, and I think we just have to be respectful and positive in the way we continue to make the case, and I think there’s a very receptive ear to that case.”

The former conservative leaders caught up during what Mr Morrison described as “the pile on he is currently dealing with” – a historic criminal trial over Mr Trump’s hush money payment to silence a porn star’s claim that they had an affair before the 2016 election.

Mr Trump is neck-and-neck with US President Joe Biden in polls ahead of November’s election, prompting the Australian government – led by Kevin Rudd, the ambassador to the US – to try and shore up key elements of the alliance including AUKUS.

Australia and the UK will deliver SSN-AUKUS, a new conventionally-armed nuclear-powered submarine, based on a UK design, incorporating cutting edge Australian, UK and US technologies. Picture: Supplied

Mr Trump has not publicly commented on the agreement that was negotiated by Mr Biden, and his campaign team has ignored multiple requests to detail his stance on the policy.

The AUKUS agreement has received strong bipartisan support in Washington DC, with Congress last year passing crucial laws to enact the pact including the submarine sale.

But several prominent Republicans – including potential figures in a second Trump administration – have expressed concerns about whether the Navy could afford to give up some of its nuclear-powered boats when its own fleet was smaller than required and the US industrial base was struggling to accelerate production.

Mr Morrison said he was confident that if Mr Trump was re-elected, he would have “strong policies” to overcome those issues.

“President Trump has been accused of being isolationist and a whole range of things, and then you’ve got commentary on commentary on commentary, and everyone works themselves up into quite a lather,” he said.

“But I have no doubt that his commitment to the defence industrial base and ensuring that it can meet the tempo that is necessary would be very, very strong, and it’s one of the other reasons I’m quite confident.”

While Mr Morrison and Mr Trump worked closely when they were in office, Australia’s plan to access America’s nuclear submarine technology only came to fruition after Mr Biden was elected in late 2020.

The AUKUS deal was announced in September 2021, with the partners later confirming that the US would sell at least three nuclear-powered vessels to Australia in the early 2030s.

The US president at the time of the transfer in the 2030s will be required to certify that sending nuclear submarines to Australia will not degrade America’s military capabilities.

Originally published as Scott Morrison says Donald Trump deserves respect from Australia if he’s President again