Scott Morrison to go to Washington for Trump state dinner

PM praises US President, who ‘always does what he says’, as he accepts dinner invitation.

US President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison share some quiet words in Osaka last month. Picture: Getty Images

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has spoken of his trust in Donald Trump as he confirmed he would head to the US to officially dine alongside the US President.

The Prime Minister’s office has confirmed Mr Trump will play host at a state dinner at the White House for Mr Morrison, who says relations between Australia and the US are the strongest they’ve ever been.

Mr Trump has insisted the Mr Morrison be afforded the highest status offered to world leaders, ­including the first state dinner for an Australian leader since John Howard.

Mr Morrison today spoke of his admiration for the US President.

“He’s a strong leader who says what he’s going to do and then goes and does it,” Mr Morrison said.

“I mean, I can always rely on President Trump to follow through on what he says. And in the time I’ve known him he has demonstrated a real keen interest in and knowledge of Australia and the relationship, that extends back particularly more than a century, in terms of the engagement of our armed forces and their armed services.

“So, this is a very, very important relationship. He sees, I think, importantly our role in this part of the world. And we are an important partner to the United States.”

The Weekend Australian understands the Prime Minister will make the trip in mid-September, with the formal invitation issued this week following a private meeting and dinner between the two leaders on the sidelines of the recent G20 summit in Osaka, when the US President is believed to have flagged the idea of an ­official visit.

The move by Mr Trump to ­elevate an official visit to include a formal state dinner at the White House will be the first for an Australian leader since Mr Howard and his wife Janette were hosted by George W. Bush in 2006.

It will also be seen in the ­strategic context as a demonstrable show of support from the US President for the Australia-US alliance and its critical role in maintaining stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

“Now I very much welcome the invitation from President Trump for Jenny and I to travel to Washington. And that will also feed into the United Nations General Assembly leaders week as well,” Mr Morrison said.

“There’ll be opportunity subsequent to meet with many other leaders as well. But this is, I think, something very significant for Australia. It’s about Australians as I said in my remarks.

“Australia’s relationship with the United States could not be stronger. And it could not be stronger at a more important time for Australia. Where we are in our region where things are at in the world today. And so I very much appreciate both the warmth of President Trump’s invitation to Jenny and I. But more importantly, the warmth towards Australia that President Trump has demonstrated in making this very generous invitation.”

Mr Morrison said yesterday that Australia and the US saw the world “through the same eyes” after he was flown out to visit the flagship of the US Navy, the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, taking part in the Talisman Sabre military exercises off Queensland.

“We are in awe of the strength and power of the United States which this ship so ably represents, but at the heart of our friendship are the values and beliefs that knit our two countries together,” the Prime Minister said.

Speaking on the deck of the ship, Mr Morrison paid tribute to American leadership in the Pacific during World War II, saying the US “helped secure the freedom we enjoy today”.

He said America deserved great credit for shaping a new ­global order when the war ended, adding that Australia and the US had “always understood each other and stood by each other”.

“Australia believes in what ­Ronald Reagan called the ‘truths and traditions’ that define the United States,” Mr Morrison said. “We stand together in these self-evident truths. We stand together for personal liberty and freedom. For democracy and the ballot box. For the rule of law, and freedom of association. For free economies and free peoples.”

The deepening relationship ­between Mr Morrison and Mr Trump comes amid growing tensions between Iran and the West. Three Iranian ships this week tried to block a UK-flagged commercial vessel in the Strait of Hormuz — a choke point for the flow of Middle East oil to the rest of the world.

Mr Morrison will become only the second world leader, after French President Emmanuel Macron, to have been hosted by Mr Trump at a state dinner at the White House Picture: Adam Taylor

The US has also flagged the prospect of building a coalition to uphold freedom of navigation in the Persian Gulf amid escalating tensions over Iran’s decision to ­enrich uranium to levels beyond the terms of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

Former prime ministers Tony Abbott, Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd never made “official visits” to the US, despite visiting the White House, with their trips ­recorded by the US embassy in Canberra as “working visits”.

Malcolm Turnbull did make an official visit in February last year but was not hosted at a state ­dinner.

During his visit, Mr Morrison will also attend a wreath-laying at the Tomb Of the Unknown ­Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery and meetings are likely to be held with senior members of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Mr Trump said at the G20 that he would be keen to ­attend the Presidents Cup golf tournament in Melbourne in ­December.

Mr Morrison will become only the second world leader, after French President Emmanuel Macron, to have been hosted by Mr Trump at a state dinner at the White House.

News of the invitation for Mr Morrison to attend a state dinner came soon after Democrat presidential frontrunner Joe Biden called for closer ties with Australia and other key US allies in Asia so they could collectively challenge China’s “abusive behaviour”. In the first major foreign policy speech of his campaign, Mr Biden said his approach would ­involve “reaching to our partners in Asia including Japan, South Korea, Australia and India to fortify our collective capabilities”.

Mr Morrison on board the USS Ronald Reagan off the coast of Brisbane. Picture: Adam Taylor

“China can’t afford to ignore half the global economy if we are united,” Mr Biden said in the speech in New York.

Mr Morrison said the USS ­Ronald Reagan was an “extraordinary symbol” of America’s power and commitment to the region.

“It’s not something we can ever take for granted,” he said. ­“Seventy-seven years ago the mighty US Navy carriers Lexington and Yorktown and their crews were not too far from here, in the Pacific defending Australia during the Battle of the Coral Sea. Pushing back, alongside our own ­Defence Force, against militarism and expansionism. That naval ­battle is also known as the Battle for Australia — and our nation ­remains grateful to the men who gave their lives to this ocean.

“Their sacrifice, to appropriate the words of Thomas Jefferson, tended the tree of liberty here in the Pacific. They are part of the soul of our enduring alliance.”