Anthony Albanese has become the first foreign leader invited to Joe Biden’s private home ahead of a Quad leaders summit

The PM expressed his concern about the rise of political violence in the US following assassination attempts on Donald Trump’s life after a rare 90 minute meeting with the outgoing president.

US President Joe Biden meets with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at his home in Delaware.

Anthony Albanese has expressed his concern over the series of attempts on Donald Trump’s life after a wide ranging meeting with Joe Biden at his private home in Delaware, a day ahead of the next Quad leaders summit, which also includes Japan and India.

The Prime Minister, speaking at a press conference in Philadelphia on Friday night (Saturday AEST), said he was “very concerned about any disruption to democratic processes” when asked about the recent spate of assassination attempts on the Republican presidential candidate.

“Democracy is something we can’t take for granted. We need to cherish it. We need to nurture it. And there’s no place for violence in democratic processes, whether it be extreme examples of assassination attempts, obviously, but other forms of violence as well,” he told reporters.

Mr Albanese, who yesterday dismissed suggestions he should have sought a meeting with Mr Trump, became the first foreign leader to visit Joe Biden’s private residence in Delaware on Friday, where the President was accompanied by his national security Jake Sullivan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his discussion with US President Joe Biden was “warm and engaging”.

“It was a very warm and engaging discussion. It was a discussion between allies and a discussion between friends, which is what Australia is with our friends here in the United States,” Mr Albanese said after the 90 minute discussion, which took place on the eve of this year’s Quad summit to take place on Saturday (Sunday AEST).

The Prime Minister heaped praised on Mr Biden’s wisdom and contribution to global affairs four months out from the end of the president’s term, after the two discussed previously agreed deals to expedite production and export of Australia’s critical minerals to the US, and the AUKU security pact.

“Australia has the entire periodic table, basically, of what will be needed, and that presents an opportunity not just to get access to those resources, but how value is added to it, and the supply chain issues that are related to that,” the Mr Albanese told reporters.

“He was very warm with regard to his comments about Australia. He regards Australia as being an important player in the international stage,” he added, referring to Mr Biden, who hosted the prime minister for a state visit in October last year after withdrawing from a planned visit to Australia.

The two men, who have met 11 times in their official capacities, exchanged gifts: a framed wooden artwork made from wood sourced in Delaware, for Mr Albanese, and an official Royal Australian Air Force A2 Leather Flight Jacket with patches that read ‘JOE BIDEN’ between wings – and the epaulets that read ‘PRESIDENT’.

“We discussed the war in Ukraine, the ongoing illegal invasion that Russia has engaged in. We discussed the Middle East as well, and the challenges of peace and security being achieved there as well,” Mr Albanese said, reiterating his call for Australians in Lebanon to return home as soon as possible amid escalating tensions between Israel and Lebanon.

“It is a fact that this situation might become more difficult. We have been saying this for many months now, that people should take the opportunity to get on a commercial plane and to come back to Australia,

The Quad, set up in 2004 to co-ordinate disaster relief after that year’s tsunami, was elevated in importance after Mr Biden became President in 2021 owing to its potential role as a bulwark against Chinese economic and military aggression.

“President Biden has a great deal of experience, and he’s he is very thoughtful about the rise of China and what that means for the world, and he’s considered approaching as an opportunity as well to not just talk,” the PM said.

The group of disparate democracies, however, experienced a fracture after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The Modi government refused to support sanctions on Russia, instead increasing its purchases of Russian oil and maintaining friendly relations with Moscow.

The New York Time reported on Thursday that the Quad leaders would launch “a new collaboration aimed at reducing cervical cancer in the Indo-Pacific”, a ‘cancer moon shot initiative’, as part of their agreements tomorrow, understood to have a cost to the Australian government of around $16 million.