Labor anxiety as Trump eyes MAGA loyalists for top roles
Donald Trump’s determination to install MAGA loyalists and China hawks to key national security roles is looming as an early test for the Albanese government’s relationship.
Donald Trump’s determination to install MAGA loyalists and China hawks to key national security roles is looming as an early test for the Albanese government’s relationship with his administration.
Hard-right warrior and former diplomat Richard Grenell is a leading contender to become Mr Trump’s secretary of state – an appointment that could challenge Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s diplomatic skills.
The former Trump appointee as ambassador to Germany horrified counterparts in Berlin when he encouraged European conservatives to challenge the “failed policies of the left”, and underscored his pro-Trump credentials as a prominent “stop the steal” lieutenant after the 2020 election.
Trump confidant Mike Pompeo, the former secretary of state and CIA director, is one of the top candidates vying to become secretary of defence. National security sources said he would be a welcome appointment to the post, due to his strong support for the AUKUS nuclear submarine pact.
But he is also highly partisan and a leading China critic who could take a dim view of the Albanese government’s push to improve ties to Beijing.
Other prominent China hawks including former national security adviser Robert O’Brien, Tennessee senator Bill Hagerty, Florida senator Marco Rubio, and Florida congressman Michael Waltz are among the contenders to become secretary of state.
Mr Waltz, a former Green Beret, is also seen as a potential Pentagon boss along with Arkansas senator Tom Cotton, an army veteran who accused Joe Biden of doing “next to nothing to protect America from our greatest threat, Communist China”.
Mr Trump is reportedly prioritising proven MAGA Republicans for key posts after churning through more conventional appointments during his first stint in the White House, and will have little difficulty securing confirmation for his picks after winning control of the Senate.
In his first major appointment, he named his campaign manager Susie Wiles as his chief of staff. He is set to begin reviewing names for cabinet posts and other top government jobs in coming days.
Anti-vaxxer Robert Kennedy is expected to be appointed to a prominent health role, while Mr Trump has said he will appoint Tesla and Space X boss Elon Musk as his “secretary of cost-cutting”.
Senator Wong and Defence Minister Richard Marles met with Republican figures during recent US trips, including Mr Pompeo, in preparation for a potential Trump win. But there remain questions over their ability to forge the sort of close ties with the Trump team that they had with Biden administration counterparts Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin.
One longtime watcher of US politics said they would have to be highly disciplined in their dealings with the new administration.
“I worry about Penny – not in public, but in private. She will meet a Robert O’Brien or Bill Hagerty and she will patronise them,” the source said.
Senator Wong has declared Australia is in a “state of permanent contest” with China in the Indo-Pacific, but the government has also been at pains to take the heat out of the bilateral relationship with Beijing.
A national security source said Labor’s hopes for more stable ties with Beijing were likely to clash with the Trump team’s view of “an almost existential struggle” with China that the US must win.
“Trump and his people will go beyond competing with China. They will want to prevail over China,” the source said.
National security experts believe AUKUS will not come under threat from the Trump 2.0 administration because of its value to the alliance, and the importance to the US of its expanding military footprint in Australia.
But there are concerns the Albanese government’s climate agenda could jar with Mr Trump’s determination to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement for a second time. Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham said the government needed to keep a lid on its political views when dealing with the incoming US administration.
“Labor ideology must take a back seat to pragmatic and practical engagement in Australia’s national interest,” he said. “Donald Trump is proudly a disrupter and it’s important to not be spooked by that but equally to argue a strong case when it’s required.”
Anthony Albanese had his first phone call with the president-elect on Thursday, using the opportunity to highlight the importance of the US-Australia alliance.
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