Kevin Rudd breaks silence as Donald Trump feud deepens

Australia’s ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd has shared a cryptic message amid tensions with former president Donald Trump.

The Republican leaders of the US congressional Friends of Australia Caucus have failed to publicly come to Kevin Rudd’s aid after he was blasted by former US president Donald Trump.

Congressman Mike Gallagher and Senator Dan Sullivan did not respond when asked about their party leader’s threat to refuse to work with Australia’s ambassador to the US if he was re-elected in this year’s presidential election.

But Mr Rudd, who has refused to comment on the diplomatic drama, took to social media on Thursday to post photos of himself with Mr Gallagher.

He did not say when the pictures were taken, but referred to the Republican’s role co-chairing the Friends of Australia Caucus, as well as his position chairing the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.

“Huge week in Congress. House passed legislation on Tiktok on 3/13 and voted unanimously to support the digital privacy bill,” Mr Rudd said.

“Amid all this, I caught up with @repgallagher.”

Huge week in Congress. House passed legislation on Tiktok on 3/13 and voted unanimously to support the digital privacy bill. Amidst all this, I caught up with @repgallagher, Chair of the influential House Select Committee on the CCP & Co-Chair of the Friends of Australia Caucus. pic.twitter.com/tQfup6bd37

— Kevin Rudd AC (@AmboRudd) March 20, 2024

Mr Trump’s comments have received little attention in US media and political circles, with few news outlets reporting on the stoush and only Democratic congressman Joe Courtney issuing a public defence of the ambassador.

Mr Courtney, who also co-chairs the Friends of Australia Caucus, said Mr Rudd was “respected and admired by legislators on both sides of the aisle” in Washington DC.

Mr Trump said Mr Rudd was “a little bit nasty” and “not the brightest bulb”.

“If he’s at all hostile, he will not be there long,” he told conservative British politician turned broadcaster Nigel Farage on GB News.

The spray came in response to a question about Mr Rudd’s pre-ambassadorial comments calling Mr Trump “nuts”, “the most destructive president in history” and a “traitor to the West”.

While the Albanese government defended Mr Rudd and confirmed he would remain in the key diplomatic post even if the former president returned to power, former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce said on Thursday that he was “cooked”.

“Now he has to live by those comments and he can’t possibly be the ambassador … because it’s going to affect our relationship with the United States,” Mr Joyce told Channel 9.

“Once (Trump) sets a path, I think that Rudd’s cooked and so you know we might as well drag him back and send him to another country.”

But George Brandis, Australia’s former high commissioner to the United Kingdom, said Mr Rudd had “plainly done a very good job” in Washington DC and deserved bipartisan support.

“I think this has been rather over-interpreted,” he told the ABC.

“Donald Trump is infamous for making rather wild and off-the-cuff claims that don’t in the end amount to very much, so it’s obviously something that the government should keep an eye on but I wouldn’t over-interpret it.”