‘What does that mean?’: Donald Trump appears to have no idea what the AUKUS alliance is during Oval Office meeting
Donald Trump’s response today, to a question involving one of Australia’s biggest security interests, will not calm any nerves.
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Welcome to another day in the interminable drama of US politics. The newsworthy material is still flowing, and we shall continue to cover it.
The biggest item on Donald Trump’s agenda, today, was a bilateral meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the White House.
The two of them largely managed to avoid any particularly mortifying awkwardness, which was no sure thing ahead of time, given their divergent views.
There was some mild awkwardness though, to which Mr Starmer was a mere bystander.
During the pair’s joint appearance in the Oval Office, a reporter asked Mr Trump about AUKUS, the trilateral security alliance between the US, UK and Australia.
Mr Trump appeared to have no idea what they were talking about.
“Will you be discussing AUKUS with the Prime Minister, sir?” a reporter asked Mr Trump.
“What does that mean?” he replied.
“AUKUS. The Australia-US defence alliance,” the reporter clarified.
“Yeah, we’ll be discussing that. We have (a) great relationship,” said Mr Trump, with the vibe of a student who did not do the readings treading water and hoping the lecturer just moves on. He went on to say some vaguely complimentary things about Australia.
Trump offered prestigious state visit
Mr Starmer’s plan to ingratiate himself by offering Mr Trump a state visit to the United Kingdom appeared to work. He handed the President a letter from King Charles, inviting him for his second such visit – he was also hosted by the King’s mother, Queen Elizabeth II, during his first term, back when Theresa May was prime minister.
“Well, that’s really nice,” Mr Trump said after being handed the letter. He called Charles “a beautiful man and a wonderful man”.
Parts of the King’s letter were visible as Mr Trump held it up in the Oval Office.
Charles joked that, if Mr Trump were to visit Turnberry (his golf course in Scotland), he might take “a detour to a relatively near neighbour” without “too much inconvenience”.
“An alternative might perhaps be for you to visit Balmoral. There is much on both estates which I think you might find interesting, and enjoy, particularly as my foundation at Dumfries House provides hospitality skills-training for young people who often end up as staff on your own establishments!” the King wrote.
“Quite apart from this presenting an opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues of mutual interest, it would also offer a valuable chance to plan a historic second state visit to the United Kingdom.
“As you will know this is unprecedented by a US president. That is why I would find it helpful for us to be able to discuss, together, a range of options for location and program content.
“In so doing, working together, I know we will further enhance the special relationship between our two countries of which we are both so proud.”
‘Can’t believe I said that’: Trump backtracks
During his joint appearance with Mr Starmer in the Oval Office, Mr Trump declined to repeat his characterisation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, last week, as “a dictator”.
“Did I say that?” he quipped when a reporter brought it up.
“I can’t believe I said that. Next question.”
Mr Zelensky is scheduled to visit the White House tomorrow.
The President elaborated on his administration’s looming deal with Ukraine, which will give the United States revenue, from the country’s lucrative mineral deposits, as a sort of payment for its support in the war against Russia.
Mr Trump said having American workers in Ukraine could act as a deterrent against further Russian aggression.
He continued to avoid direct criticism of Vladimir Putin.
“We had to go through the Russia hoax together,” Mr Trump said.
That was a reference to the American government’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Mr Trump considers the whole thing a “hoax” because it also examined allegations of collusion between Russia and his own campaign.
The investigation did not substantiate those collusion allegations. It did find ample evidence that Putin’s regime meddled in America’s election, in an attempt to help Mr Trump win.
In his remarks today, Mr Trump reiterated that he trusted Putin to stand by the terms of a peace deal in Ukraine, should one be negotiated.
“I think he’ll keep his word. I’ve spoken to him. I’ve known him for a long time now,” Mr Trump said of the Russian dictator, adding that he had a “very good relationship” with both Putin and Mr Zelensky.
Mr Starmer was more circumspect.
“If there’s a deal, we’ve got to make sure it’s a deal that lasts, that is not temporary,” he said.
“We will talk about how we can work with yourself, Mr President, to ensure that this deal is something which is not violated, because it’s very important, if there is a deal, we keep it.”
World leader slaps Trump down again
For the second time in as many days, Mr Trump was fact checked by the fellow world leader sitting next to him. And on the same topic, no less.
Yesterday it was French President Emmaneul Macron contradicting Mr Trump’s claim that Europe was “getting its money back” from Ukraine. Today it was Mr Starmer.
“It maybe got a little bit testy, because we wanted to have a little bit of what the European nations had,” Mr Trump said of his talks on the matter.
“You know, they get their money back by giving money. We don’t get the money back.
“Biden made a deal. He put in $350 billion dollars, and I thought it was a very unfair situation.”
“We’re not getting all of ours – I mean, quite a bit of ours was gifted. It was given. There were some loans, but mainly it was gifted, actually,” Mr Starmer interjected.
Trump claims to be unaware of Tate situation
Mr Trump said he was not involved in any effort to bring accused sex traffickers Andrew and Tristan Tate back to the United States.
“I know nothing about that. I don’t know,” he said.
“He’s on a plane right now? I know nothing about it. We’ll check it out and let you know.”
The Tate brothers landed in the US today, having been allowed to leave Romania, where they were facing a series of serious criminal charges.
Reporting earlier this month suggested the Trump administration was lobbying Romania’s government to lift a travel ban on the pair.
Both Tates are facing allegations, in Romania, that they trafficked minors, had sexual intercourse with minors and orchestrated a money laundering scheme.
Other charges related to the alleged formation of a criminal gang to sexually exploit women have been sent back to prosecutors.
They are also facing criminal charges in the United Kingdom.
Andrew Tate is of course well known as a self-described “misogynist” influencer.
Ron DeSantis, the Governor of Florida – where the Tates landed today – expressed his displeasure at their presence in his state.
“Florida is not a place where you’re welcome with that kind of conduct,” he said.
“We’re looking into what hooks and jurisdictions we have to deal with this.
“I don’t know how it came to this. We were not involved. We were not notified. I found out through the media.”
Florida Attorney-General James Uthmeier added that he’d directed his office to “conduct a preliminary inquiry into these individuals”.
“Florida has zero tolerance for human trafficking and violence against women. If any of these alleged crimes trigger Florida jurisdiction, we will hold them accountable,” he said.
Originally published as ‘What does that mean?’: Donald Trump appears to have no idea what the AUKUS alliance is during Oval Office meeting
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