Richard Marles assures US allies amid presidency battle

Richard Marles has undertaken a blitz of meetings with Trump-backed Republicans on Capitol Hill as the Albanese government moves to sandbag the AUKUS defence pact.

Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Richard Marles has undertaken a blitz of meetings with Trump-backed Republicans on Capitol Hill as the Albanese government moves to sandbag the AUKUS defence pact from another ­isolationist-tilt under a second Trump administration.

Facing shortening odds of a second Trump presidency amid growing concerns for Joe Biden’s health and calls for him to stand aside, the Defence Minister on Wednesday said the government would “work with whoever the American people choose” at the next election.

“What matters for someone like me to say is that whoever is elected president in November we will work with and I am sure the alliance between Australia and America will continue to be strong,” he told reporters in Washington DC

Mr Marles said the Albanese government was not concerned about the viability of AUKUS under a possible Trump administration, granted bipartisan support for enabling legislation in December, and his host of meetings across the congress.

“I am participating in a congressional program where I’ll be meeting a number of members of congress, again, across the political spectrum,” he said. “I will definitely be talking about the importance of AUKUS, about thanking them for their support for AUKUS [legislation] in December last year, but also making clear what the next challenges are in terms of the AUKUS journey.”

On Mr Marles’s itinerary are one-on-one meetings with Republican senators Roger Wicker, Jim Risch and Dan Sullivan.