Trump’s positive sign on AUKUS

Rarely has a meeting between two former leaders mattered as much to Australians’ security. Donald Trump’s powerful indication to Scott Morrison that – if re-elected US president in November he will back the AUKUS plan for Australia to acquire at least three Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines from the US from the early 2030s onwards – is good for the future of both nations. Mr Trump has not publicly discussed AUKUS.

At a meeting in New York, Cameron Stewart reported, Mr Trump told the former prime minister he believes AUKUS plays a critical role in deterring China. They focused on the growing strategic threat posed by China, which has become increasingly aggressive, including in the South China Sea, as it continues the largest military build-up in the region since World War II.

Mr Morrison announced AUKUS, his most significant legacy, in a three-way link-up with US President Joe Biden and former British prime minister Boris Johnson in September 2021. Mr Morrison’s meeting with Mr Trump was reassuring given concerns that he and his Republican allies are fostering a new isolationism in US politics. Some Republicans have voiced concerns that Australia’s acquiring the subs will undermine US naval capability.

The former leaders discussed the escalating threat of violence in the Taiwan Strait and the need to continue building a strong, credible and effective deterrent to PRC aggression. China claims Taiwan, an independent democracy, as its own and has not ruled out using force to retake it. As Mr Morrison said: “There was a welcome level of comfort about AUKUS in our discussion.”