Joe Biden’s canned trip embarrassing for Anthony Albanese

Joe Biden’s cancellation has left Anthony Albanese red-faced and burned by someone he regards as a friend, writes Tom Minear.

Anthony Albanese’s close relationship with Joe Biden is clearly a point of pride.

On Tuesday, the Prime Minister talked up their meetings in Japan, Spain, Indonesia, the UK and the US, before his office shared a media release saying the President had accepted Albanese’s invitation to address parliament when he visited Australia next week.

But by the time that story appeared in Wednesday’s newspapers, Biden had put his trip to Sydney and Canberra under review and then pulled the plug completely.

Albanese has been burned by someone he regards as a friend, both personally and of Australia. It is embarrassing for the Prime Minister and the President. And the only winner in this diplomatic fumble is Xi Jinping.

Joe Biden and Anthony Albanese at the ASEAN Summit last year. Picture: AAP

Biden had no choice. Stopping the US defaulting on its debts is rightly his most pressing priority, given the alternative would spark an economic crisis with global consequences.

And his decision to scrap the trip was not surprising, because he said publicly a week ago: “If we somehow got down to the wire and we still hadn’t resolved this … I would not go.”

That message, however, appears to have fallen on deaf ears in Canberra and Washington DC, creating a situation that is awkward for the President on multiple levels.

Not even two hours before the cancellation was confirmed, the White House was telling reporters he could do two things at once: travel overseas to deal with matters of foreign policy while negotiating on the debt ceiling domestically. Apparently not.

Joe Biden and Anthony Albanese during the AUKUS announcement in San Diego in March. Picture: Getty Images

Furthermore, while the President correctly argues that congressional Republicans are holding the US economy hostage by refusing to lift the limit without conditions, he chose not to sit down at the negotiating table – as he would inevitably have to do – until the last minute.

Most importantly, by calling off the trip in such a haphazard fashion, Biden is once again allowing critics to cast doubt on America’s commitment to the Indo-Pacific after his administration has worked so hard to convince its allies that it is fully engaged in the region.

For the Chinese President, who has been trying to outfox the US in the Pacific Islands and undermine the Quad, this is a handy diplomatic victory.

As for Albanese, at least he now has a state visit to Washington DC to look forward to – even if, after a year in the top job, the invitation was finally extended as an apology.

Originally published as Joe Biden’s canned trip embarrassing for Anthony Albanese