Donald Trump adds to a long list of character assessments of Kevin Rudd

Illustration: John Spooner

Kevin Rudd has put Anthony Albanese in a position familiar to every parent of a bright child with a big mouth. Mr Rudd may be a dill, but as ambassador to the US he is Australia’s dill.

As such he must be defended by the government, at least publicly, following remarks by Donald Trump responding to previous comments by Mr Rudd.

In the not-so-distant past, Mr Rudd called Mr Trump, among other things, “a traitor to the West” and, in a rare example of brevity, “nuts”.

All very well coming from a private citizen speaking about a former president. But the gods make a point of punishing hubris and now Mr Trump has a solid chance of being elected US president again he has expressed views of his own.

In a British interview, Mr Trump said of Australia’s ambassador: “If he’s at all hostile, he will not be there long.”

When Mr Albanese announced Mr Rudd’s appointment to Washington last March he referred to the new ambassador’s “unmatched experience” as a prime minister and foreign minister.

But for all his ability Mr Rudd also has a habit of talking in ways that make enemies when he need not. It is a lesson he should have learned in 2010, when loss of support from his own Labor colleagues led to him being ousted as prime minister.

It’s a lesson he needs to learn now, and fast, if he is to be of any use to Australia in Washington.

Perhaps Mr Trump will not win; if he does, perhaps he will forgive; perhaps Mr Rudd will have to come home.

But if Mr Rudd stays, regardless of whoever is in the White House next year, he will need to learn from his predecessors Kim Beazley, Joe Hockey and Arthur Sinodinos, all former politicians who became diplomats, speaking softly and making compelling cases for Australia’s interests as instructed by their governments.

And, whatever his opinions are, to keep them to himself. According to French foreign minister Talleyrand, “Speech was given to man to conceal his thoughts.”

There is also a lesson for the Prime Minister in this entirely unnecessary mess – don’t back your judgment when the evidence is against you. And there are decades of evidence that Mr Rudd struggles to keep his mouth shut.