Scott Morrison meets with Donald Trump to discuss AUKUS and China

Donald Trump has given a powerful signal that he will back the AUKUS plan if he becomes president, telling Scott Morrison of his support for the pact during a meeting at Trump Tower.

Donald Trump meets with former prime minister Scott Morrison at Trump Tower in New York.

Donald Trump has given a powerful signal that he will back the AUKUS plan to acquire US nuclear-powered submarines if he becomes president, telling former prime minister Scott Morrison that he believes AUKUS plays a critical role in deterring China.

A meeting between the two former leaders in Trump Tower in New York focused on the growing strategic threat posed by China in the Indo Pacific and the need to deter Beijing from continued military aggression against Taiwan.

Mr Morrison said Mr Trump was “in good spirits and appreciated the visit, especially amid the issues he is currently dealing with in New York”.

Only hours before their meeting, the presumptive Republican nominee for president was in a Manhattan court hearing lurid testimony from his former lawyer Michael Cohen about hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels to hide her alleged sexual encounter with Mr Trump.

“Our meeting took place on the same day that (Republican House) Speaker (Mike) Johnson and other congressional colleagues visited New York and attended the court hearings where the former president is compelled to attend,” Mr Morrison said.

He said the meeting in Mr Trump’s private residence in Trump Tower on Tuesday night (US time) was “warm and friendly” and that “we spoke of the issues where we worked together in office and the other leaders we worked with, such as the late (Japanese leader) Shinzo Abe”.

“Our discussion focused primarily on the Indo Pacific, the escalating threat of violence in the Taiwan Straits and the need to continue the work to establish and maintain a strong, credible and effective deterrent in the region to PRC aggression, especially in relation to Taiwan,” Mr Morrison said.

“In this context, I discussed how the AUKUS agreement played a critical role, which I was pleased was a view shared by former president Trump.

“There was a welcome level of comfort about AUKUS in our discussion.”

Mr Trump has not publicly discussed the AUKUS pact for Australia to acquire nuclear-powered submarines, including US Virginia-class submarines, leaving the Albanese government uncertain about whether Mr Trump as president would support the three-nation pact which was created under the Morrison government in 2021 with the backing of the Biden ­administration.

Under the AUKUS plan, Australia will acquire at least three Virginia-class submarines from the US Navy from the early 2030s despite concerns expressed by some Republicans that this would undermine US naval capability.

Mr Trump and Mr Morrison developed a close relationship during Mr Trump’s term as president, and in 2019 Mr Trump hosted a State Dinner for Mr Morrison at the White House Rose Garden, the first given to an Australian leader since 2006.

At that time the two leaders bonded over their shared hostility towards the behaviour of China under Xi Jinping, and their meeting this week suggested that Mr Trump’s views towards Beijing have not softened.

“It was good that the need to maintain an active, strong and effective short, medium and long term deterrent in the Indo Pacific was primary, appreciated and considered essential,” Mr Morrison said of his meeting. “We don’t need to be shy about it. The former president was certainly not shy about these issues and we agreed that the PRC (People’s Republic of China) was also not shy about their ambitions.”

Mr Morrison said future US and British support for AUKUS would be bolstered by appreciating its role as a deterrent against China “especially in relation to Taiwan”. He warned that if Australia softened its approach to China, it might undermine support for AUKUS.

“To maintain necessary support from key partners such as the USA and Japan, we must continue to be seen not to be appeasing the PRC or allowing our rate of effort to diminish,” he said.

Mr Morrison is visiting the US where he is a consultant at American Global Strategies, run by former Trump national security adviser Robert O’Brien.

His visit comes at a time when Mr Trump is leading in most polls against his presidential rival Joe Biden despite his involvement in the current hush money trial and the prospect of three more upcoming felony trials against him.

Mr Morrison, a committed Christian, has recently released a book, Plans for Your Good: A Prime Minister’s Testimony of God’s Faithfulness, which recounts his “spiritual journey” as it intersected with his time as prime minister. This includes the role his faith played during crises like the Covid pandemic, major decisions such as the AUKUS nuclear submarine pact and amid political challenges like his accession to the prime ministership in 2019 at the expense of Malcolm Turnbull.