Morrison’s bid to make a lasting mark on US visit
Power crowd watches as Scott Morrison uses dinner toast to ask Donald Trump for land.
A glittering crowd of American and Australian luminaries have gathered under the stars in the White House Rose Garden for Prime Minister Scott Morrison, resolutely “celebrating” even as serious matters of national security and presidential politics swirled around President Donald Trump.
Not long before the president and first lady Melania Trump stepped out of the White House front door and welcomed Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his wife, Jenny, US Defence Secretary Mark Esper announced the deployment of additional US troops to the Persian Gulf region in response to a recent attack on the Saudi oil industry. At the same time, a controversy intensified over a conversation Mr Trump had with Ukraine’s new president.
Guests attending the state dinner — just the second of the Trump administration and the first in honour of an Australian PM since John Howard in 2006 — kept conversation on the lighter side.
Among the 173 in attendance were mining magnates Gina Rinehart and Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest, golfer Greg Norman, and media barons Kerry Stokes and Lachlan Murdoch, seated at a mix of round and rectangular tables draped in alternating yellow and green tablecloths in tribute to Australia’s national colors and dined on sunchoke ravioli, Dover sole and apple tart a la mode. Temporary flooring was laid over the grass.
In remarks before the three-course meal was served, Trump raised his glass to a “very special people and a very, very special country.”
I want to express my gratitude to America’s magnificent @FLOTUS for tonight’s exquisite evening where we celebrated more than a century of loyal and devoted friendship between🇺🇸🇦🇺Both of our nations are blessed by uncommon courage, unfailing commitment, and unyielding character! pic.twitter.com/i61cHCZYlD
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 21, 2019
He had said earlier Friday that he would love to attend the 2019 President’s Cup golf tournament in Australia in December, if his schedule will allow it.
Mr Trump waxed lyrical in his toast to the dinner about the similarities between the two countries “born out of a vast wilderness” with a fierce self-reliance.
“It is this free and proud spirit that has always driven our people to imagine, to build, to achieve what others have never even dreamed possible,” he said.
In return, Morrison praised the first lady’s “quiet grace” and toasted 100 years of “mateship” between the US and Australia.
Mr Morrison also asked Mr Trump for some land to erect a life-size version of the statuette he gifted the president showing WWII digger Leslie “Bull” Allen rescuing an American soldier.
“We would be honoured if you would permit Australia as our gift to erect a life-size memorial of this image here in Washington at a place of your choosing as a constant reminder of our dedication to our American friends,” he said.
Before the dinner, Mr Trump announced the highest level economic sanctions against the central bank of Iran after welcoming Mr Morrison to the Oval Office.
He said a war with Iran would be “the easiest thing to do” but emphasised showing restraint “shows far more strength”.
“I think the strong person’s approach and the thing that does show strength would be showing a little bit of restraint,” he said.
“You know what the easiest thing for me to do, and I could do it right here, is to say OK fellas go ahead and that would be a very bad day for Iran,” he said.
“The easiest thing for me to do is to say knock out 15 sites in Iran and that would be a very bad day for Iran,’ he said.
It has also emerged that Mr Morrison’s bid to bring Hillsong Church Pastor Brian Houston along with him for the trip was vetoed by the White House.
Mr Morrison was determined to bring Pastor Houston to the US as part of his official delegation but his office was told Pastor Houston was not invited, despite several rounds of discussions, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Mr Morrison would not be drawn on the claim, dismissing it as “gossip”.
During Saturday’s press call, Mr Trump said he was winning the trade war against China and raising billions of dollars for the US from tariffs which had not been gathered before.
Mr Morrison said he wanted Iran to be “great again” but did not commit Australia to any further military action.
“The US has taken a very careful and calibrated approach to Iran so far,” Mr Morrison said.
“We have to take this one step at a time,” he said.
Mr Trump said the US had the best military in the world “we have the finest planes, ships and submarines”.
“We have the best missiles and best rockets in the world,” he said.
The President said he hadn’t discussed the option of further military action with Australia but said: “we will discuss it”, describing Mr Morrison as “a man of titanium, believe me.”
“I have to deal with this guy. You might think he’s a nice guy, OK, he’s a man of real, real strength and a great guy.”
He said the US was the greatest military power in the world and had “totally renovated” its armaments.
“The nuclear is better than it ever was before. We all hope and prayer we never have to use it,” Mr Trump said.
Speaking earlier, Scott Morrison delivered an emphatic defence of free trade and its importance to global stability in remarks to the US State Department in Washington overnight, setting the scene for sensitive discussions in coming days with Mr Trump over the US-China relationship.
On the first state visit to the US by an Australian prime minister in 13 years, Mr Morrison met the President at the White House late on Friday night (AEST), starting a day of ceremonies and speeches that culminated in a state dinner.
Mr Morrison and his wife, Jenny, were greeted by Mr Trump and his wife, Melania, on the lawns amid considerable fanfare. Mr Morrison received a 21-gun salute as the Australian anthem was played to the crowds assembled around the lawns.
Mr Trump welcomed the Prime Minister and his wife, declaring: “Today we celebrate the long-cherished and unwavering friendship between the United States and Australia.
“The unbreakable bond between the United States and Australia is rooted in eternal ties of history, culture and tradition.
“Last year our nations commemorated 100 years of mateship since our gallant forces served in WWI. Today we vowed to carry on our exceptional alliance.”
Mr Trump said Americans and Australians were “loyal, bold, independent and very, very resilient”.
At the conclusion of Mr Trump’s speech, Mr Morrison said to him: “Thanks, mate.”
The Prime Minister thanked the US President on behalf of 25 million Australians for the “honour you have bestowed on my country” in hosting the formal state visit. “Australians and Americans understand each other like few other peoples,” he said. “And it is true that you and I have established a very early understanding.
“From the woods of Le Hamel to the jungles of Southeast Asia to the dust of Tarin Kowt in Oruzgan, and now the waters of the Strait of Hormuz, Australians and Americans have always stood together.
Conflating his trademark “How good is …” catchcry and Mr Trump’s “Make America great again” mantra, Mr Morrison declared: “How great is America!”
Mr Morrison said the world was a better place because the US had a moral purpose and had secured a world that was “not just more secure, but more prosperous as well”.
“Mr President you won’t find a more sure and steadfast friend, a better mate, than Australia,” the Prime Minister said.
Before the ceremony, US Vice-President Mike Pence greeted Australian guests including ambassador Joe Hockey and his wife, Melissa Babbage, Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary Phil Gaetjens, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade secretary Frances Adamson and Chief of the Australian Defence Force Angus Campbell.
Later, Mr Morrison used his State Department speech to declare it was “never more necessary” for America to guarantee peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region by co-operating with China.
Mr Morrison highlighted Australia’s support of free trade and the rules of international law, referencing the one in five Australians who depended on the strength of a healthy global trading market for a job. “Supporting the global trading system is therefore critical for our economy,” he said at the US State Department, to an audience that included Mr Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
“Trade and international engagement is the ultimate bulwark against global conflict.
“This was the post-war vision of the nations, led by the US, that won the peace. This has not changed. But this will not be enough. Together we know that peace and stability cannot be taken for granted.”
While the 10-day state visit — the first since John Howard’s in 2006 — is ostensibly about promoting the century-old military alliance between the two nations, and their current trade and strategic links, the balance of China’s power in the Indo-Pacific is a top priority. Senior officials from the Trump administration are discussing Australia’s “essential” role in bringing together two sides in conflict over trade and defence.
The US and Australia will also sign an agreement that will secure Australia’s technological support to Mr Trump’s plan to return American astronauts to the moon by 2024. The White House praised Australia’s commitment to close military, intelligence and trade links between the two nations.
In a formal media briefing on the visit, the official did not mention China despite the fact that a central feature of talks between Mr Morrison and Mr Trump will be the rising tensions between Beijing and other nations in the Asia-Pacific region. Instead, he praised Australia’s reliability over the past century as an alliance partner, including most recently through the commitment to send Australian military assets to help secure the Strait of Hormuz against potential Iranian seizures of oil tankers.
Mr Morrison will travel to Washington DC, Ohio, Chicago and New York in the next 10 days. The trip to Ohio will include a visit with Mr Trump to billionaire businessman Anthony Pratt’s paper mill in Wapakoneta.
With Agencies
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