Anthony Albanese passes first big test with Donald Trump but Kevin Rudd’s tenure looks in doubt
During a 40-minute press conference in the White House cabinet room, Trump dominated affairs as Albanese sat next to him with a beaming smile on his face.
Trump likes winners and Albanese’s emphatic May 3 election victory delivered him automatic credibility with the US President.
The long-term strategic and economic importance of the Australia-US relationship trumped any ideological differences between the Republican billionaire and left-wing Labor leader on issues like Palestinian recognition and climate change.
The growing military threat of China in the Indo-Pacific and Beijing’s weaponisation of critical global supply chains threatening the strength of the US and its allies were also front and centre.
After taking Albanese on a personal tour of the Oval Office and a walk along the West Wing Colonnade, which has been re-badged as the “Presidential Walk of Fame”, Trump brought in the big guns.
Seated on either side of Trump and Albanese for a working lunch were US Vice-President JD Vance, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, White House chief-of-staff Susie Wiles, US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and US Secretary of the Navy John Phelan.
Despite plenty of opportunities to take gentle swipes at Albanese, as he does with other allies, Trump declined to provide them.
He brushed aside his own administration’s demands for the Albanese government to lift defence spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP, though he still wants the Prime Minister to do more heavy lifting.
On tariffs, Trump says Australia has the best rate in the world. Unlike the first Trump administration, the President has made no secret that tariffs are his No 1 strategic tool.
The presence of Phelan and Hegseth in the room was reassuring for the future of the AUKUS pact, which was hatched under Joe Biden’s administration. Trump wants to put his imprint on the deal but will not junk it.
While Hegseth in May warned that Xi Jinping would likely invade Taiwan by 2027, Trump on Tuesday said he believed the Chinese President wouldn’t go through with it.
He also agreed that AUKUS, which involves the rotation of US and UK submarines through Australia from 2027, would act as a deterrent against China invading Taiwan.
The elephant in the room was former prime minister and Albanese’s ambassador in Washington Kevin Rudd.
Rudd will be happy that he has finally landed a positive meeting for Albanese. After four phone calls, a brief encounter between Albanese and Trump in New York and an aborted G7 meeting in Canada, Rudd pulled-off a successful bilateral meeting.
Yet despite Rudd’s backroom efforts since Trump trounced Kamala Harris in the US election last November, it is becoming obvious his tenure in Washington is unlikely to be extended. Trump and his team have long memories.
Rudd’s pre-ambassador comments, famously described as “nasty” by Trump, described the Republican as “the most destructive president in history”, “nuts” and a “traitor to the West”.
Asked on Tuesday about Rudd, Trump delivered an embarrassing assessment of the former prime minister.
Trump declared he didn’t know anything about Rudd and suggested the ambassador might “like to apologise”.
As the media left the cabinet room, Rudd was observed to apologise across the table to Trump.
Trump’s style is unique. He speaks in a way that sends coded messages to everyone from Xi to Vladimir Putin to Volodymyr Zelensky to Rudd.
Those who know Trump had urged Albanese to forge a personal relationship. Albanese passed his first big test and can develop a closer bond with the world’s most powerful person.
Changes to Pillar 2 key part of AUKUS talks says Marles
Donald Trump has come through in spades for Anthony Albanese after locking in the $368bn AUKUS nuclear submarine deal, signing off on an $US8.5bn ($13bn) critical minerals and rare earths deal and waxing lyrical about the Australian Prime Minister.