Anthony Pratt gets Donald Trump’s seal of approval

Australia’s richest man Anthony Pratt is strengthening his ties with Donald Trump after a meeting in Florida yesterday.

The picture tweeted by Anthony Pratt with his wife Claudine and Donald Trump yesterday.

Australia’s richest man, Pratt ­Industries executive chairman Anthony Pratt, is strengthening his ties with Donald Trump, with the pair enjoying an intimate meeting yesterday at the US President’s exclusive Florida club, Mar-a-Lago.

Mr Pratt, who lived in the US for 15 years before returning home to Melbourne in 2009 after the death of his father, tweeted a photo with his wife Claudine ­Revere, their children and Mr Trump at the resort.

After the meeting, Mr Pratt told The Australian he had praised the President for getting his tax cuts through and “reported progress” on his promise made in May to invest $US2 billion in the US over the next 10 years, creating more than 5000 manufacturing jobs.

“We have now built two factories worth $US200 million and a $US500m paper mill in construction in Ohio which is an important swing state,’’ Mr Pratt said.

He said Mr Trump’s economic leadership had encouraged his company to make the ­investment, along with America’s “cost of ­energy”.

“Over half of US energy now comes from shale gas, I’m told, so the cost of energy is one contributor, along with President Trump’s leadership of the onshoring of businesses from China back to America.’’

Mr Trump stands to applaud Mr Pratt in New York in May.

The high-profile pair have grown closer over the past year, after first meeting by chance at the Kentucky Derby in 2000.

Mr Pratt, who is estimated to be worth more than $12bn, had read Mr Trump’s book, The Art of the Deal, and the two discussed their ties with their strong-minded businessmen fathers.

Earlier this year, Mr Pratt managed to join Mr Trump’s private club just before it was closed to new members soon after the President’s inauguration.

Mr Pratt’s pledge to spend $US2bn on investing in manufacturing in the US over the next decade was made in a speech at the celebrations for the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea in May this year, which was also attended by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

Mr Trump responded to the pledge by rising to his feet and leading a standing ovation.

Mr Pratt posted a tweet on Christmas Eve congratulating Mr Trump on his “great leadership”, following up on full-page advertisements he took out in The Wall Street Journal supportingthe President.

One of Mr Pratt’s advertisements in the Wall Street Journal.

Mr Pratt was at the Florida resort this week for the Global Food Forum conference in conjunction with the Journal, which is being held on January 1, while Mr Trump was there spending the Christmas holidays with his family.

Mr Pratt ran Pratt Industries’ American operations from Atlanta for 15 years from the early 1990s before returning to Melbourne after the death of his father, Richard Pratt, in 2009.

When he arrived in the US, his company had a paper mill in Macon, Georgia. It now has about 70 plants in the US.

Mr Pratt, who spends his time between Melbourne and an apartment in New York, established links with Mike Pence some years ago when he was planning to build a mill in Indiana, where the now US Vice-President was the state governor. Mr Pratt attended a business round table at Mr Pence’s Washington residence this year.

At the inaugural US Global Food Forum in California last year, Mr Pratt called on food industry leaders to create a national conversation on ways to double the size of the American food industry and create millions of jobs, under the slogan of “Export Food, Not Jobs”.

In his meeting with Mr Trump this week, Mr Pratt also praised US Agriculture Secretary George “Sonny” Perdue for “doing a great job growing food exports” from the US.