Kevin Rudd downplays backlash over attacks on Donald Trump, meets Joe Biden

Kevin Rudd, who has presented his ambassador credentials at the White House, brushed aside concern his unleashing on Donald Trump will hurt Australia’s relationship with the US.

Kevin Rudd, pictured with wife Therese Rein outside the National Archives in Washington DC, starts his new role as the Australian Ambassador to the US. Picture: Twitter

Kevin Rudd has brushed aside concerns his past attacks on Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for president, will hinder Australia’s relationship with the US or Republicans in a short press conference in Washington DC after presenting his credentials to Joe Biden.

Former prime minister Mr Rudd – announced as the next Australian ambassador by Prime Minster Anthony Albanese in December after months of speculation – said he and his wife, Therese, had had a “good conversation” with Mr Biden in the Oval Office of the White House, stressing the President’s “personal warmth” and his “great relationship” with Mr Albanese.

“Therese and I had a great time in the White House, catching up with other friends on staff who we’ve known for more years than we can remember,” Mr Rudd told journalists, assembled in Lafayette Park opposite the White House, adding it was a “great honour to present his credentials”.

“The most important thing is he’s really looking forward to getting to Australia, and we’re looking forward to welcoming him in next few months,” he added, flanked by Therese on a Wednesday afternoon (Thursday AEST).

Mr Biden is expected to visit Australia for the first time as President in coming months for a Quad leaders meeting.

Kevin Rudd outside the National Archives in Washington DC. Picture: Twitter

Asked whether his previous harsh criticisms of former president Trump, who has surged in US opinion polls since Mr Rudd’s appointment, would affect Australia’s relationship with the US, Mr Rudd said he was “pretty confident [his] relationships [with the US] have not only continued but been sustained and strengthened”.

“The bottom line is I’ve been in this town on and off for 30 years, I have bucketloads of Republican friends and bucketloads of Democrat friends, working in foreign policy and national security,” he added.

Mr Rudd had unleashed on Mr Trump repeatedly in public, calling him a “a traitor to the West”, guilty of “rancid treachery” as recently as February last year.

The former Labor leader and twice prime minster said he discussed the challenges in “maintaining strategic stability” in the Indo-Pacific in the face of a more assertive China with Mr Biden, whose relations with the US, he noted, had deteriorated, and AUKUS, which the former prime minister stressed had “bipartisan support” in Australia, the US and UK.

“Another thing was climate change, and energy security, and the economic opportunity available to Australia in this dynamic relationship: these areas are long standing passions and interest of mine.

Asked whether he had brought up Julian Assange’s plight in the meeting, Mr Rudd said he was “concerned about practical business of how we bring this matter to conclusion”.

“The first thing to say is both the PM and foreign minister have been pretty clear about their position on this matter, it’s gone on for too long, and that’s a position which of course I support”.

Mr Rudd, who was leader of a group calling for a royal commission into News Corp, publisher of The Australian, and media diversity, declined to comment on recent news that Fox News had settled with Dominion, referring journalists to Malcolm Turnbull for comments.