The US President could be set to visit the Top End

Rumours are swirling about a potential high-profile visitor to the Territory. Read who it is.

The local business community is abuzz with rumours of a high-profile visitor to the Northern Territory in coming months.

Members of the Territory’s emerging gas and energy sector are quietly confident a visit by United States President Donald J. Trump is imminent, although they are reluctant to jeopardise such a move by speaking publicly.

If it does go ahead, the smart money is tipping a post-Easter visit, which this year falls on the second-last weekend in April.

An email sent by the NT News to a US Government agency remained unanswered last week, and the United States Embassy in Canberra was similarly unresponsive, adding to the rumour churn.

US President Donald Trump in Palm Beach, Florida, on February 7. (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP)

The gossip focuses around US-based gas company Tamboran, and its dynamic chief executive Joel Riddle, who the NT News reported flew to Washington after President Trump’s inauguration to secure up to $8bn investment for a data centre project powered by the company’s gas.

While a decision on that deal is being considered, Tamboran’s close links with the new Trump administration bequeath to the Territory a direct line into the new United States Government.

Chris Wright, chief executive of United-States energy giant Liberty Energy, was last week confirmed by the US Senate as President Trump’s new energy secretary.

Liberty are significant investors in Tamboran’s Beetaloo gas project.

Tamboran chief executive Joel Riddle.

And Donald Trump antagonised Democrats and greens during last year’s presidential elections with his pro-gas mantra, “drill baby drill”.

At an Energy Club conference on Friday, Australian Energy Producers NT chief executive David Slama name-checked the president when discussing Tamboran’s data centre plan.

“And who knows — if Joel gets his way, we might even see Trump funding a gas-powered data centre in Pine Gap,” Mr Slama said.

Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton did nothing to quell the rumours, advocating for the President to stop over in Darwin.

“It would be great for our country if the President were to visit our shores and what better place to visit than the Northern Territory,” he said.

As well as the gas, tariff-mad President Trump would love the Territory because of the jurisdiction’s underlying trade surplus with the United States.

Between August 2023 and August 2024, the value of the Territory’s imports from the US increased from about $100m to about $300m - making the US the Territory’s third-largest import market.

And for more than a decade United States marines have taken a six-montly rotation at Robertson Barracks and, if he does visit, the 47th President could force completion of Crowley’s long-delayed fuel farm at East Arm that’s being built for the Pentagon.

Welcoming the rumour of a presidential visit, a Tamboran spokesman said “I sincerely doubt it’s true”.

Originally published as The US President could be set to visit the Top End