Touching moment at state dinner highlights unusually strong rapport between Donald Trump and Scott Morrison

One moment during Scott Morrison’s state dinner at the White House almost made him lose it — and highlighted his rapport with Donald Trump.

One moment during Friday night’s state dinner at the White House almost made Scott Morrison lose it.

The dinner was a hugely significant diplomatic event, and such events are of course meticulously planned, down to the positioning of the tiniest dessert forks. But Donald Trump himself is not known for delving into the details.

So it was quite a surprise when his dinner toast included a touching tribute to Mr Morrison’s family.

The Prime Minister’s great-great aunt was Dame Mary Gilmore, the poet and journalist whose face features on Australia’s $10 note.

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The Australian reports Mr Trump incorporated one of her poems into his toast. Mr Morrison was not expecting it.

“I heard the start of the poem and I said, ‘That’s Aunt Mary’s poem! I’ll have to tell him that when he’s finished,’” the Prime Minister said.

“And he ended up telling me. So you know, that’s the sort of detail that shows an affection. It just shows a closeness.”

Mr Trump followed that up with another surprise, as musicians appeared on the roof of the White House with trumpets to play Waltzing Matilda — his staff had gone to the trouble of checking whether the old building could support their weight.

“I was already a bit weepy after that. And then, when Waltzing Matilda played, that was just something,” the Prime Minister said.

“I was overcome by it.”

Scott Morrison and Donald Trump clinking glasses. Picture: AFP/Alex Edelman

The best of friends. Picture: AAP/Mick Tsikas

Mr Trump doesn’t go to that kind of effort very often. In fact, Mr Morrison is just the second foreign leader, after French President Emmanuel Macron, to be honoured with a state visit since Mr Trump took over from Barack Obama in 2017.

So, why the special treatment? The President gave us a clue when he lauded Mr Morrison on stage in Ohio today.

“He recently won the election in Australia, some of you know. It was supposed to be close and he blew them away. Because he believes a lot of the same things I believe. That helps! He blew them away. He’s a great gentleman. They love him in Australia, and they now love him in the United States of America too,” Mr Trump said.

That echoes something he told Sky News host Paul Murray shortly before the state dinner, in an interview that aired last night.

“I’ve developed a very special relationship with Scott. He’s a great gentleman. He had the kind of election that I had, so we have something in common. It was a little bit of a surprise and it was a very big victory,” he said.

Mr Trump clearly sees parallels between himself and Mr Morrison.

Both are conservatives. Both have a certain attitude of, shall we say, defiance towards the political media — Mr Trump with his “fake news” slogan, Mr Morrison with his derision of the “Canberra bubble”. And both were widely written off before winning their respective elections.

The rapport between them could not contrast more strikingly with the often stilted relationship Mr Trump shared with Mr Morrison’s predecessor Malcolm Turnbull.

When Mr Turnbull visited the White House last year, he and Mr Trump said all the right things about each other. The then prime minister said he and Mr Trump got on “very well”. The President introduced Mr Turnbull as “my friend”.

But American and Australian journalists all noticed the long, awkward silence that greeted them when they entered the Oval Office for a joint photo opp.

There was none of the jovial banter you see between Mr Trump and Mr Morrison. Instead, Mr Trump and Mr Turnbull gave off the distinct vibe of two men struggling through a mildly unpleasant day at the office.

RELATED: Awkward silence hangs between Trump and Turnbull

Picture: AFP/Saul Loeb

You couldn’t exactly blame them. Their first interaction with each other was a bad-tempered phone call, during which Mr Trump fumed about a deal Mr Obama had struck to take 1250 asylum seekers from Australia.

“I think it is a horrible deal, a disgusting deal that I would never have made. It is an embarrassment to the United States of America,” Mr Trump said.

“As far as I am concerned, that is enough Malcolm. I have had it. I have been making these calls all day and this is the most unpleasant call all day. Putin was a pleasant call. This is ridiculous.”

RELATED: Trump thought Australia was ‘out to get him’

The point I’m making here is that Mr Trump and Mr Turnbull got off on the wrong foot, and never quite managed to repair their relationship.

Mr Morrison, on the other hand, quickly got onto Mr Trump’s good side and has managed to stay there.

Mr Trump was explicitly asked why he preferred Mr Morrison over Mr Turnbull during his interview with Sky News. His response was diplomatic.

“Well, I liked Malcolm … I liked Malcolm very much, but tell you, Scott is — and I really think they’re both very good people — but I’ve developed a very special relationship with Scott. He’s a great gentleman,” he said.

“Scott’s a very strong man. A very good man. And I think he’s somebody that’s respected very much in your country.”

Some Australians will be uncomfortable with that “special relationship”.

Mr Trump is not popular here — according to data from Pew, 84 per cent of us had confidence in the US president when Mr Obama was in charge, and that plummeted to just 32 per cent once Mr Trump took over.

Last year a Newspoll survey found less than a third of Australians approved of Mr Trump’s performance — roughly on par with Bill Shorten’s approval rating at the time.

So it’s a little weird to see our Prime Minister cosying up to him.

But Mr Trump will be President until at least January of 2021. Should he win re-election next year, you can extend that to 2025.

Like it or not, Australia will need to work with Mr Trump for at least another 16 months. The Prime Minister’s unusually warm relationship with him could prove to be extremely useful.