Kevin Rudd meets Joe Biden in the White House as Australia’s new US ambassador

Kevin Rudd has hit Washington DC’s party circuit after a meeting with Joe Biden, where he revealed what he thought of the octogenarian president.

Kevin Rudd has shared his White House “happy snaps” with Joe Biden after soaking up Washington DC’s biggest party weekend of the year.

Australia’s new US ambassador, accompanied by his wife Therese Rein, presented his credentials to the President in the Oval Office last month to officially begin his posting.

“Just got the happy snaps back,” Dr Rudd posted on Twitter.

“President firing on all cylinders (as he was at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner). And Therese looks stunning.”

Great to have presented credentials to President Biden. Just got the happy snaps back. President firing on all cylinders (as he was at the White House Correspondents’ dinner). And Therese looks stunning. pic.twitter.com/lk6yRxtwGb

— Kevin Rudd AC (@AmboRudd) May 1, 2023

The former prime minister was spotted over the weekend in a tuxedo at the dinner, which is Washington’s biggest annual political party and was headlined by Mr Biden’s speech in which he poked fun at his media foes and affirmed the importance of the free press.

A series of other events packed with journalists and politicians were also held over the weekend, with insider news site Politico reporting Dr Rudd was a guest at a Bloomberg reception alongside CIA director Bill Burns and Mr Biden’s former chief of staff Ron Klain.

@AmboRudd attended the White House Correspondents Dinner. @POTUS confirmed that “journalism is not a crime”. US Department of Justice should withdraw #Assange extradition request upon UK. #TimeServed#NPCpic.twitter.com/iSbzZES2BH

— Tim Shaw (@TimShawTalks) April 30, 2023

RUDD BACKS AUKUS IN BIDEN MEETING

Kevin Rudd has thrown his support behind the AUKUS pact, maintaining he “always supported” the nuclear submarine deal despite having warned it could undermine Australia’s sovereignty and leave us “strategically naked”.

The former prime minister declared the AUKUS was a “huge priority” in his first press conference as Australia’s US ambassador, after meeting US President Joe Biden to formalise the posting.

“President firing on all cylinders, (as he was at the White House Correspondents’ dinner),” Rudd said in a later Tweet, referring to Biden’s appearance at the annual roast.

He also offered Mr Biden a helping hand on China during their meeting, saying stabilising the fractured relationship between the superpowers was a key focus of his mission in Washington DC.

But he sidestepped questions about his plans to engage with former president Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for next year’s election who he once called a “traitor to the west” and the “most destructive president in history”.

Kevin Rudd with wife Thérèse Rein outside the National Archives in Washington DC.

When the AUKUS pact was unveiled in 2021, Dr Rudd said he was “concerned about the long-term impact this has on Australian sovereignty” and accused the Morrison government of “bungling” the deal in a way that would leave Australia “vulnerable”.

Speaking outside the White House on Thursday (AEST), Dr Rudd maintained he had “always supported” AUKUS.

“The questions I raised then as a think-tanker have subsequently been addressed by the Australian government in its dealings with the United States government,” Dr Rudd said.

“It’s important to understand the accuracy of what’s been said in the past and what we’ve committed to today.”

Accompanied by his wife Thérèse Rein, Dr Rudd said it was a “great honour” to hand over his credentials to Mr Biden, who he said was excited to visit Australia next month for the Quad leaders’ summit.

pic.twitter.com/M8ulKyk0vi

— Kevin Rudd AC (@AmboRudd) April 19, 2023

“He loves Australia, he has a great relationship with our Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and he’s looking forward very much to travelling,” he said.

“This is an extraordinarily important relationship for our country, both on questions of national security but also on the economy and climate.”

After months of speculation, the former Labor leader was tapped by Mr Albanese for the key diplomatic post in December and took over from Arthur Sinodinos last month.

Dr Rudd said he was chosen for the role in part “to deal with the challenge we all face … presented by China’s rise”.

He said he raised the issue with Mr Biden, and while they did not “get down into a whole lot of detail”, the ambassador said the US-China relationship was “really difficult” and he wanted to help “subject to (Canberra’s) guidance”.

Kevin Rudd met with US President Joe Biden in the White House.

“We’re worried about the possibility of crisis and conflict arising by accident,” Dr Rudd said.

“Under those circumstances, what is important is for all of us to work with our friends in DC and our friends in Beijing on building what Minister (Penny) Wong calls strategic guardrails.”

He declined to say whether he raised the case of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange with Mr Biden, having long argued he should be spared punishment in the US, but he agreed with Mr Albanese that the matter had dragged on “far too long”.

“Achieving progress and an outcome is not going to be aided by any rolling commentary on our engagements with either the US government – whether those engagements are happening or not – or with lawyers or with the family,” Dr Rudd.

“I’m concerned about the practical business of how do we bring this matter to a conclusion.”

Asked how he would work with Mr Trump, and whether his prior criticisms would be a roadblock to forming a relationship, Dr Rudd said he had “bucketloads of Republican friends and bucketloads of Democrat friends”.

Rudd is hopeful the US stop pursuing Julian Assange.

“The American political process will resolve its own course in the future and we’ll see where it lands,” he said.

“In the tradition of all previous Australian ambassadors, we work with all sides.”

Upon taking over as the ambassador, Dr Rudd stood down from his position campaigning for a royal commission into the Murdoch media empire.

On Thursday, he quipped that he “didn’t notice” Fox News’s $US787m settlement over false statements aired about Dominion voting machines in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election.

“As a humble public servant, what I’d say is the American judicial processes have found their own natural conclusion,” Dr Rudd said, as he suggested questions about the case would be better directed to former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, who has taken over his campaign role.

Originally published as Kevin Rudd meets Joe Biden in the White House as Australia’s new US ambassador