The landslide election win to Labor was helped by the shadow of Donald Trump says US media

Both conservative and liberal media in the US interpret the size of Labor’s defeat of Peter Dutton as being at least partially driven by Donald Trump’s unpopularity.

Both conservative and liberal media in the US interpreted the size of Labor’s defeat of Peter Dutton’s as being at least partially driven by Donald Trump’s unpopularity. 

Anthony Albanese’s thumping election win has grabbed headlines in the United States for Donald Trump’s perceived role in helping another centre-left foreign government to power.

Both conservative and liberal media in the US interpreted the size of Labor’s defeat of Peter Dutton as being at least partially driven by Trump’s unpopularity.

“First Canada, now Australia – the Trump factor boosts another world leader in an election,’ said a headline in the conservative Wall St Journal, referring to the comeback victory of Canada’s ruling centre-left Liberal Party in that country’s election last week.

“The (Australian) election is the latest snapshot of how voters are reacting to a shifting world order as President Trump targets countries with tariffs, pivots toward Russia and uses harsh rhetoric about Washington’s traditional allies,” the WSJ said. “Polls show voters in Australia, Canada, and the U.K. view Washington more unfavourably since Trump took office.”

The left-leaning Washington Post said Trump’s tariffs ‘appear to have boosted the incumbent’s (Albanese’s) prospects … echoing the results of Monday’s election in Canada.”

“From Germany to Greenland, the US president has become a key factor in global electoral politics, as some voters added to their longstanding concerns a new question: Who will stand up to Trump?” the Post said.

US media cited Dutton’s mini-MAGA agenda including promises to slash the public service, create a DOGE-like government efficiency portfolio and wade into culture war issues including tacking cultural diversity and inclusion programs.

“Donald Trump may not have been on Australia’s ballot paper, but his shadow loomed large all the same,” Politico said, adding that “Dutton’s embrace of MAGA policies backfired spectacularly.”

Recent polls show support for Trump in Australia has slumped during his first chaotic 100 days in power during which he has implemented tariffs on Australia despite the country having a trade surplus with the US.

A YouGov poll last month found 66 per cent of Australians polled said the US could not be trusted as a security ally, up from 39 per cent last June before Trump was elected.

Seven in 10 Australians say they are concerned that Trump will make them poorer, concerns which will increase if Wall St continues its southward journey because of concerns about the impact of Trump’s tariffs on the global economy.

The New York Times headlined its Australian election story with “Australia’s election wasn’t about Trump An Anti-Trump wave swept in anyway.”

“The global turmoil wreaked by President Trump’s policies made him a factor in the election, bolstering the re-election of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese,” the Times said.

Australian elections rarely grab headlines in the US, but there is growing attention in America on the way in which Trump is reshaping the politics of America’s allies.

In Canada, Trump’s trade war and annexation threats helped Prime Minister Mark Carney overcome a 20 point-plus polling deficit for his left-leaning Liberal Party to claim an unlikely election victory.

In Germany, Friedrich Merz, the conservative Christian Democrat set to become the next chancellor warned that Europe needs to “achieve independence from the United States, step by step,” after Trump administration officials openly endorsed the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party (AfD) before its national elections in February.

However, Trump’s impact on foreign elections does not only help centre-left parties that disagree with him. They can also help populist parties like Nigel Farage’s anti-immigration Reform Party which made large gains at local elections this week.

In Ecuador President Daniel Noboa, who won re-election in April is believed to have received a boost from his good relationship with Trump. Meanwhile in Romania ultranationalist George Simion, a Trump supporter, is a frontrunner in the nation’s presidential election this weekend.