Palestine, defence spending, tariffs and the other elephants in the room
Anthony Albanese soaked up Donald Trump’s praise during a friendly White House meeting, despite fundamental differences on issues from Palestine to tariffs and defence spending.
There were giant elephants in the White House cabinet room during Anthony Albanese’s audience with Donald Trump, though everyone tried to ignore them.
The PM, in a feat of diplomacy, refused to acknowledge them with even the most subtle body language. But they were there nonetheless.
The biggest of these metaphorical creatures was the gulf between the leaders’ views on Palestine and Israel.
Mr Trump is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s biggest international supporter, while Mr Netanyahu has condemned Albanese as a “weak” leader who allowed anti-Semitism to flourish.
Mr Albanese broke from Israel and the US in a succession of United Nations votes before recognising formally Palestine – a move Mr Trump blasted as “foolish”.
The PM also sought to claim a share of the credit for ending the war in Gaza, saying Australia’s diplomacy helped build momentum towards peace. Mr Trump believes he alone ended the war – one of eight he claims to have resolved.
The other big elephant in the room was Mr Trump’s belief in tariffs to solve just about every problem. Sitting next to Mr Albanese he described tariffs as “amazing” and a “tremendous power”.
Mr Albanese, an avowed free trader, must have had to grit his teeth. He has repeatedly described the President’s tariffs as “an act of economic self harm”.
Australia, as Mr Trump pointed out, faces the most lenient of his tariff rates – a 10 per cent baseline duty, but a more onerous 50 per cent on steel and aluminium.
Mr Albanese wants them gone, believing they are damaging the nation’s economy and the global trading system.
There was also the defence funding elephant, which was briefly acknowledged by Mr Trump before he brushed it aside.
Asked whether he had concerns over the size of Australia’s defence budget – which stands at about 2 per cent of GDP despite the astronomical costs of AUKUS – the President said: “I’d always like more, but they have to do what they have to do. You can only do so much. I think they’ve been great.”
He said Australia’s military was “very strong” – a bit of a stretch – before praising the redevelopment of Perth’s Henderson shipyards.
“They are building magnificent holding pads (sic) for the submarines. It’s going to be expensive too. You wouldn’t believe the level of complexity,” Mr Trump said, as if the work were underway.
In reality, the Albanese government is yet to turn the first sod on the $12bn project.
Then there was the irony elephant that reared its head as Trump lavished Albanese with praise.
“They’ve really got a great Prime Minister,” the President said.
Mr Albanese replied: “I’ll use it in my ads in 2028.” It was a bold claim from the man who trounced Peter Dutton in the recent federal election by painting him as a Trump-like figure who threatened Australian values.
Mr Albanese unleashed another elephant when he said Australia had fought side-by-side on the world’s battlefields for “freedom and democracy”.
Mr Trump, meanwhile, is trashing fundamental rights and freedoms in the US, along with its global reputation as a beacon of democracy.
Looming large over proceedings was the leaders’ fundamental disagreement on climate change and energy, but there was no way the PM was going there.
Trump wants to “drill baby drill” and pulled the US from the Paris climate agreement. For Mr Albanese, climate change action and net zero emissions are articles of faith.
The leaders also have differences on Ukraine. Mr Trump says he’s a friend of Putin, refuses to hold him to account for starting the war, and has held out on rearming Ukraine with the weapons it needs.
Mr Albanese has vowed to stand with Ukraine for “as long as it takes”, and supports arming Kyiv to the teeth.
A lesser elephant – for the moment at least – is the Australian government’s technology laws banning under 16s from social media and requiring tech companies like Google and Facebook to pay for news content that they use to make a profit.
Mr Trump and his tech bro supporters consider such policies as an affront to US businesses and free speech.
Finally there was the ideological elephant. The PM is an old-school leftie who used to boast of his love of “fighting Tories”. Mr Trump is a populist, anti-intellectual conservative who hates the left.
And yet there they were, getting along like a house on fire.
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