Kevin Rudd facing ‘deafening chorus’ of calls to resign as Ambassador to the US

Kevin Rudd is facing calls to resign Australia’s top diplomatic post in the US after he made scathing comments about Donald Trump before he won the election.

Kevin Rudd is hanging on with his fingernails to Australia’s top diplomatic post in Washington after the Albanese Government was caught flat footed by Donald Trump’s clean sweep election victory.

The former Australian Prime Minister is facing a deafening chorus of calls for him to resign as Australia’s Ambassador to the United States.

Mr Trump had warned earlier this year that Dr Rudd “won’t be there too long” if he won the election after he was alerted to the Ambassador’s social media comments labelling him a “traitor to the West.”

Dr Rudd was furiously deleting that post, and another which called Mr Trump the “most destructive president in history” in the hours after the Republican was elected as the 47th president of the United States.

Kevin Rudd has made scathing comments about Donald Trump. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Bizarrely, those comments were still live last week when the Prime Minister’s Office was sent a list of questions about Dr Rudd’s future should Mr Trump win.

Dr Rudd, who is paid more than $500,000 as Ambassador, acknowledged that he had scrubbed his social media in a statement on his personal website on Thursday.

“In his previous role as the head of an independent US-based think tank, Mr. Rudd was a regular commentator on American politics,” the statement said.

“Out of respect for the office of President of the United States, and following the election of President Trump, Ambassador Rudd has now removed these past commentaries from his personal website and social media channels.

“This has been done to eliminate the possibility of such comments being misconstrued as reflecting his positions as Ambassador and, by extension, the views of the Australian Government.”

Dr Rudd said he looked “forward to working with President Trump and his team to continue strengthening the US-Australia alliance.”

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

The career politician has called Washington DC home since March last year, rubbing shoulders with the political elite and releasing a book critical of China.

He lives in White Oaks, a 101-year-old heritage listed mansion that has served as Australia’s Ambassador’s residence since 1940, and boasts one of the best grass tennis courts in the city.

Dr Rudd has spared no expense entertaining, with the $70,000 price tag for a Pride Party including a Eurovision singing act and a drag queen performance being revealed in September.

But the former Prime Minister’s party lifestyle was at risk of being curtailed by those social media comments about Mr Trump.

Critics warned they would make it difficult for Australia to get the best deal out of Mr Trump as he plans to impose blanket 10 per cent tariffs on imports to the US.

And they also threaten to derail Australia’s $386 billion AUKUS submarine deal, on which Mr Trump has the final say.

Donald Trump stands on stage with first lady Melania Trump after his election win. Picture: AP

Former Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said on Thursday that Mr Rudd’s future was in doubt, while Liberal powerbroker Michael Kroger called on him to “put Australia’s national interest first” and offer his resignation.

Federal Liberal MP and foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham said “effective advocacy” was “crucial” to prevent Australia being hit with tariffs, which was one of Mr Trump’s main election policies.

But Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was desperately trying to put out the fire surrounding Mr Rudd’s inflammatory social media comments about Mr Trump.

“Kevin Rudd is doing a terrific job as Australia’s ambassador to the United States and it says … a lot about how important we regard the relationship with the United States that we appointed a former prime minister,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Thursday.

Dr Rudd’s loose lipped posts were the tip of the iceberg of Labor’s criticism of Mr Trump.

Kevin Rudd is facing calls to resign as US ambassador. Picture: Noah Willman

Mr Albanese called him “dangerous”, NDIS Minister Bill Shorten called him “barking mad”, deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles has labelled his decisions “appalling” and Attorney General Mark Dreyfus said some of his comments were “abhorrent”.

Labor’s Housing Minister Clare O’Neil went further, calling Mr Trump’s son as a “big baby” in a hastily deleted post on X, formerly known as Twitter, in June 2023.

Mr Downer, who was Australia’s Foreign Minister between 1996 and 2007 and Australia’s Ambassador to the UK between 2014 and 2018, said Dr Rudd had put himself in an awkward position.

“It would be embarrassing for Anthony Albanese if he just withdrew Rudd now, it would be slightly problematic,” he said.

“Appointing another Labor figure would have its own problems because they have been so critical of the Republicans.”

Mr Downer warned that Dr Rudd may lose access to key White House officials and suggested Mr Albanese consider his options for a replacement.

“The only way to do it would be to appoint a career diplomat,” he said.

“Kevin Rudd may find this hard to believe but he might find that Donald Trump has more on his mind than the future of Kevin Rudd.

“But he might survive. He’s got three months. He can reinvent himself. Kevin Rudd is as unpredictable as the Melbourne weather when it comes to his policy positions.”

Mr Kroger said: “Kevin Rudd knows Australia’s best interests are not served by a ferocious critic of Donald Trump as our Ambassador in Washington.

“For Australia’s national interests, Mr Rudd needs to hand in his commission to the Prime Minister who should then appoint a more diplomatic ambassador.

“The obvious Labor names who come to mind are former Senator Stephen Conroy, former NSW union leader Michael Easson, former Senator Stephen Loosley, or Mary Alexander, a former Labor MP.”

Mr Trump takes over from President Joe Biden in January.

Originally published as Kevin Rudd facing ‘deafening chorus’ of calls to resign as Ambassador to the US