Albanese ‘must raise subs with Trump’ as AUKUS deadline looms

The waning possibility of Anthony Albanese landing a meeting with Donald Trump in coming weeks has sparked alarm from the Coalition and defence ­experts.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the G7 summit in Canada. Picture: AP

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The waning possibility of Anthony Albanese landing a face-to-face meeting with Donald Trump in coming weeks has sparked alarm from the Coalition and defence ­experts, who have raised concern about the two leaders not meeting before Washington’s controversial AUKUS review concludes and instead leaving the outcome “to chance”.

Despite indications from the Prime Minister that he may attend the NATO summit in The Hague next week – which Mr Trump may also take part in – The Australian understands that this option is becoming increasingly unlikely, amid questions over whether Mr Trump will be able to leave the US because of the Middle East crisis.

Without meeting the President on the sidelines of NATO, the next best option being considered by the government is a sit-down ­between the two leaders on the sidelines of a UN summit in New York in September.

That would be well after the Pentagon’s 30-day snap review of AUKUS concludes, which was ­announced on June 12.

Opposition defence spokesman Angus Taylor said the ­inability of Mr Albanese to put ­forward Australia’s case for the ­defence pact and Canberra’s ­defence spending – which the US has been demanding be lifted – was “disappointing”.

“A face-to-face meeting is ­crucial to seek assurances on AUKUS,” he said. “Australia should be at the table engaging at the highest levels to advocate the importance of AUKUS and ensure our interests are understood and defended, not waiting on the sidelines. It is disappointing the Prime Minister appears unlikely to meet with President Trump before the Pentagon’s review into AUKUS concludes.”

Shadow Defence Minister Angus Taylor holds a press conference on the US Pentagon's review into the AUKUS agreement at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: Martin Ollman

Mr Taylor said the matter needed to be made a “diplomatic priority” and called for a sit-down between the two leaders to be ­secured “as soon as possible”.

The cancellation of their long-awaited meeting by Mr Trump – who instead left the G7 early – was downplayed by Mr Albanese as being “understandable” given the events in Israel and Iran.

However, unlike other leaders who had meetings with the President cancelled – such as the Mexican President and Indian Prime Minister – Mr Albanese did not receive a phone call from Mr Trump.

Former Defence Department deputy secretary Peter Jennings said he could not think of a prime minister who had as “unpromising” a relationship with their US counterpart in the past 40 years.

“I can go back in my mind as far as the Fraser government to how prime ministers have dealt with presidents,” he said. “I can’t think of a prime minister that’s had as unpromising a relationship with an American president as Mr ­Albanese and Donald Trump.

“That’s just a real concern. It shouldn’t be that way, given the success of the alliance and the wider relationship. So what’s going on here? Why is Albanese not trying to fix this properly? Not on a side meeting at an inter­national summit. I think he’s got his strategy completely wrong.”

Anthony Albanese is yet to confirm a meeting with US President Donald Trump.

In comments that signalled Mr Albanese might not attend the NATO summit, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said “whether it’s the Prime Minister or another senior minister, certainly Australia will be represented”. “The Prime Minister has said before he left Canada that he was considering whether he should attend NATO. Obviously, we will weigh that up,” she told ABC.

“What I would say is this is a time, very unstable time in the world, conflict in many parts of the world, but we have a war in Europe and a war in the Middle East, and we really need to work with other countries to do all we can to protect peace, security, and stability.”

US tariffs represent another significant issue Mr Albanese has been seeking to raise with Mr Trump in person. But Senator Wong said the “perspective” on the matter had changed in light of the Israel-Iran war. “The immediate focus is on potential armed conflict and what’s going the Middle East,” she said.

“Opposition on tariffs remains the same … We’ll continue to press that case at every level. Obviously, the other issue that we will be discussing, and continue to discuss with the Americans, is the benefits to the United States and to the UK, as well as Australia, of the AUKUS agreement.”

She stressed that the meeting between Mr Trump and Mr Albanese didn’t occur purely because of the Middle East conflict, which was understandable, and that Australia was “not alone” in having missed out on such a sit-down.

Strategic Analysis Australia founder Michael Shoebridge said AUKUS was a national enterprise, and any review that went to the defence pact needed to be raised by national leaders.

Anthony Albanese speaks during a press conference during the AUKUS summit on March 13, 2023, at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego, California. Picture: AFP

“It seems important to me that our two national leaders have a discussion about AUKUS, and don’t just leave the review to people in the Pentagon,” he said.

“To leave it to chance, and leave it to even the most motivated defence ministers and bureaucrats in the Pentagon just doesn’t look like what a leader should do.”

He said that the view from the government and others that the AUKUS deal was probably not at risk was “overly complacent”. “The Australian commitment to AUKUS is one thing the Americans are continually measuring,” he said.

“If it doesn’t matter enough to our Prime Minister to even make contact when there’s a unilateral American review under way, that sends a signal that at the national level, we’re not all in.”

However, the head of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Justin Bassi, dismissed concerns about Mr Albanese not having met with Mr Trump, saying “too much” had been read into it. “Not having a meeting within the 30-day review period is not going to determine the outcome,” he said. “AUKUS is a trilateral partnership and the UK Prime Minister has met Trump and discussed AUKUS. So a negative outcome would be neither the fault of (Keir) Starmer for meeting, nor Albanese for not meeting.”

Several defence and foreign ­affairs experts raised the question over how sincerely Mr Albanese was in wanting to meet Mr Trump, considering how unpredictable the President could be.

United States Studies Centre chief executive Michael Green added that Mr Albanese had not yet “articulated Australia’s grand strategy” in the way that Sir Keir and others had.

“I get the sense there’s some big, hard realities hitting Australia, like many countries. And having won a big election victory, the Prime Minister and the cabinet have got to sort out what their strategy is,” he said.

“I think that’s how (Sir Keir) has succeeded with Trump.”